- 4 August 2010
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- 5 Comments
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- Congress, Human Rights in Iran
The Senate Calls on Iran to Release Three Detained Americans
4 August 2010 Posted By Sherry Safavi
Cross-posted from the NIAC homepage
The Senate unanimously passed a resolution yesterday calling for the “immediate” and “unconditional” release of three American hikers being detained in Iran. The resolution, backed by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA), Al Franken (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Arlen Spector (D-PA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), emphasized that Sarah Shourd, Joshua Fattal, and Shane Bauer have been detained in Iran for over a year and urged their release on humanitarian grounds.
While the UC Berkeley graduates were originally reported to have been arrested after unintentionally crossing into Iran, a recent report by The Nation cites two eyewitnesses who said the three were arrested on the Iraqi side of the border. The report by the Nation further reported that the IRGC official responsible for ordering the detention of the trio has since been arrested by the Iranian government and charged with smuggling, kidnapping, and murder.
The resolution emphasized that “the amount of time Sarah, Josh and Shane have spent in prison is unjustified in relation to their alleged offense of illegal entry into Iran.”
Though Iran’s criminal procedure code maintains that persons must be charged or released within four months of being detained, the hikers have yet to be formally charged of a crime. Sarah, Josh, and Shane, who are being held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, have been allowed to see their families only once, in May, and have had otherwise limited contact with the outside world. According to their families, Sarah and Shane may be suffering from potentially serious health problems.
The resolution text is below the fold:
S.RES.604
Urging the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Immediately and Unconditionally Release Sarah Shourd, Joshua Fattal, and Shane Bauer on Humanitarian Grounds
Whereas on July 31, 2009, Sarah Shourd, Josh Fattal, and Shane Bauer were taken into custody by Iranian officials after they may have inadvertently crossed the poorly marked Iranian border while hiking in the Kurdistan region of Iraq;
Whereas Sarah, Josh, and Shane have been held since last year in Evin prison in Tehran;
Whereas the amount of time Sarah, Josh and Shane have spent in prison is unjustified in relation to their alleged offense of illegal entry into Iran;
Whereas during the period of their detention, Sarah, Josh, and Shane have only been afforded the opportunity to see their families during a brief visit in May;
Whereas according to their families, Sarah and Shane may be suffering from potentially serious health problems;
Whereas the families of Sarah, Josh and Shane have suffered greatly in the absence of their loved ones;
Whereas July 31, 2010 will mark the one-year anniversary of their detention;
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate, That Congress—
(1) recognizes that Sarah Shourd, Joshua Fattal, and Shane Bauer have been held in custody in Iran for one year; and
(2) urges the Government of Iran to immediately and unconditionally release Sarah Shourd, Joshua Fattal, and Shane Bauer, on humanitarian grounds and allow them to reunite with their families in the United States
5 Responses to “The Senate Calls on Iran to Release Three Detained Americans”
If those political grandstanders in Washington were sincere about these three supposedly accidental infiltrators, they actually have it within their power to have them released within a week.
President Ahmadinejad has publicly brought up the subject of a prisoner swap. There are Iranians in US custody they’re interesting in freeing.
This type of arrangement is considered acceptable for Russians, why not Iranians?
Just another in a very long list of double standards when it comes to Iran and Iranians.
The US-Russia spy swap is the way real spies are handled. If the hikers had actually been spies, and the US had jailed Iranian spies, a swap would be quite likely.
The absence of a swap is only more evidence that the three weren’t spies.
The US has jailed Iranian spies. Iran has 3 innocent hikers. Everyone (including Pirouz) knows this. This is just more absurdity and silliness from Pirouz that demonstrates the increasing difficulty of defending a government as morally wrong as the Iranian government.
I think you’re being too technical, here. During the Cold War, there were swaps that took place that involved persons not directly involved in espionage. There have even been Arab-Israeli swaps that are not espionage related.
And, keep in mind the Iranians that were held by the US military in Iraq for all that time possessed diplomatic credentials, and were never charged in a court of law, either.
Come on. Don’t delude yourselves. Those three supposedly accidental infiltrators could be home inside a week if the Obama administration possessed the same level of domestic political capital as that of their counterparts in Tehran.
This situation, like so many others, is further proof that the Iranian government consists of thugs. These thugs have kidnapped three innocent people to use as bargaining chips for other thugs. The civilized people of the world, both inside and outside of Iran, realize this. The Iranian people deserve and expect much better.