- 11 August 2009
- 3 Comments
- Events in Iran, Human Rights in Iran
Families of missing hikers release statement
11 August 2009 Posted By Patrick Disney
The families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have released the following statement regarding their children’s detention in Iran (h/t Lara):
“It is now twelve days since our children were detained in Iran, when they strayed across the border while on a brief hiking vacation in Iraqi Kurdistan. As loving parents, nothing causes us more heartache than not knowing how our children are, and not being able to talk to them and learn when we will hold them in our arms again. Shane, Sarah and Josh are young travelers who share a great love of the world and a deep respect for different cultures, societies and religions. We believe that when the Iranian authorities speak to our children, they will realize that Shane, Sarah and Josh had no intention of entering Iran and will allow them to leave the country and reunite with their families. We continue to hope that this misunderstanding will be resolved as quickly as possible.”
3 Responses to “Families of missing hikers release statement”
Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal knew they were in a war zone. Now they are putting the U.S. government in a compromised position to save their sorry butts. The statements from their families did not show any acknowledgement of this fact, and I believe they are very selfish. Why should the people of the U.S. be burdened by their kids’ stupidity?
The Iran/Kurdistan border is a war zone, involving the Iranian military and the Kurdish terrorist group PJAK.
Three recent precedents are relevant here:
(1) The capture of “enemy combatants” by the US military in Afghanistan, and their indefinite detention at Guantanimo. (At least one of which was a journalist for Aljazeera)
(2) The roundup and detention of Iraqi citizens by the US Military, as suspected terrorists, to be held indefinitely at prisons such as Abu Ghraib. (The number of those held is in the tens of thousands)
(3) The arrest of five Iranian diplomats at the Iranian consulate in Kurdistan, who were held for over two years by the US Military. The diplomats were accused of spying.
Other injustices by the US government forces does not mean US citizens should be abandonned when they are held in US prisons when they committed no crimes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/opinion/12griffith.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
Presidents to the Rescue
By MICHAEL J. GRIFFITH
Published: August 11, 2009
THERE has been much speculation about the role President Obama played in Bill Clinton’s trip to North Korea to free two American journalists. But few realize that if the women, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, were wrongfully held, Mr. Obama had a legal obligation to help gain their release.
According to Title 22, Section 1732 of the United States Code: “Whenever it is made known to the president that any citizen of the United States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by or under the authority of any foreign government, it shall be the duty of the president forthwith to demand of that government the reasons of such imprisonment.” If the imprisonment appears to be wrongful, “the president shall use such means, not amounting to acts of war and not otherwise prohibited by law, as he may think necessary and proper to obtain or effectuate the release.”
This applies also to the hikers who trespasses inadvertently into Iran.