Sarah Shourd; Screenshot taken from “A Mother’s Plea”
Matador calls upon our community members and readers to help Free the Hikers.
On August 2, 2009, we reported that Matador contributor Sarah Shourd was one of three Americans detained by Iranian officials after accidentally crossing the Iraq-Iran border while hiking in the mountains.
Since that time, Shourd’s family and the families of the other two hikers have established a strong online presence intended to raise awareness about the hikers’ detention and to call for their release.
In this video, released on December 19, 2009, Shourd’s mother addressed Iran’s Supreme Leader, calling upon him to show mercy and release the hikers:
January 31 marked six months of detention. The anniversary was a solemn one, of course, and one that the families acknowledged by redoubling their efforts to free the hikers.
In this video, siblings of the three hikers call upon viewers to send video responses to Shourd and her companions:
In addition to submitting a video response, here are four other ways you can help free the hikers:
1. Sign the Free the Hikers petition.
2. Write your elected representatives and encourage them to get involved.
3. Write a blog post to raise awareness of the situation among your readers.
4. Follow FTH on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
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12 Comments... join the discussion!
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I had no idea about Shroud and the other hikers. Thanks for letting us know about this, Julie, and how to get involved.
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thank you for keeping this at our attention. I am making my video response in the next 48 hours…
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I think about these three every day. It saddens me that negotiating their release is not a priority for our government.
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Hello,
Some time i think government don#t know or realise the pain of leaving or not hving you love ones and also i simply can’t think that what benifit or inforamtion Iranian govt. getting from her they simply want to give pain…..↵ -
I plan to help spread the word. Hope my efforts will help!
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It is noble what you’re doing for the hikers, but it is vain, the Iranians only keep them because the U.S kidnapped (or detained, depends what side your own) 4 Iranians in Iraq for up to 2 years, without access to lawyers, or family. So, you can expect the Iranians to hold these people for at least the same amount of time, without access to their families. It is a tit-for-tat situation, which the American authorities know, and understand very well. That’s why they don’t really say, or do anything on behalf the hikers, because they know it’s just a game with the Iranians.
Another option in prisoner exchange, but I doubt Washington considers these hikers important enough to do that.
So, it’s just a waiting game. Don’t worry about them TOO much, they are probably comfortable, and reading a lot, and learning Farsi. The Iranians are very hospitable, even to foreign prisoners.
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I feel for these families. I hope that their loved ones eventually are released. I must say though…I’m all for adventure, but what in the hell were they doing in Iraq near Iran? I mean, really. With all the places on earth you can go…why were they even near this place? I have much respect for adventurous people. However, some people think the world is their playground, they’re ready to venture anywhere, and it’s just not worth their lives, or the hurt it causes loved ones, when things like this happen. This is not the governments fault, and they can not make the Iranians release these people, who probably should have chosen a different vacation destination.
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Just because the Iranian people are hospitable does not mean its government officials and prisons are. I have family members and friends in Evin, and have read countless accounts of prisoners (now released) that tell of the torture, physical and psychological, and hell of solitary confinement that is something you cannot call “comfterable.” So before you blur the line between the Iranian’s hospitality and the regime’s tyranny in the same place, read the testimonies of Roxana Saberi, Maziar Bahari and Andreas Moser (all citizens of a country besides Iran).
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Why on Earth did the mother cover her head?
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