Anti-war activists detained in Iran

On July 31, 2009, three of my close friends - Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal - were arrested at the border of Iran. We had been living in a Palestinian camp in Syria doing humanitarian and journalistic activism, and had gone to the Kurdish area in Iraq – peaceful now for almost 20 years – for a brief trip. A number of local people in the area recommended that we visit the beautiful area around Ahmed Awa waterfall, a village too small to be on our map, which no one warned us that was near the Iranian border. Reports http://www.thenation.com/article/36562/us-hikers-were-seized-iraq indicate that my friends were kidnapped across the Iraqi border by a rogue element inside the local government, and did not accidentally cross as was initially reported. I was on the trip with them, and had I not come down with a cold before they left for their hike, the day before their arrest, I would be with them in Evin prison instead of writing this. After over 400 days, they are still being held without charges, without a single visit from their lawyer, under vague allegations of espionage. If they were officially charged, we would be allowed to present a lifetime of evidence http://freeourfriends.eu that we are the complete opposite of spies. Sarah has spent the entire time in solitary confinement, alone in her cell 23 hours a day, and is experiencing health problems which are not being treated. We still have no idea when they might be released.

The American media has given extensive coverage to the situation of my friends, but has avoided talking about our life's work (seen as too controversial) of criticizing American and Israeli agression in the Middle East. Because of this superficial story, the public has shown little interest in their case, assuming them to be idiotic adventure tourists in the Middle East, or spies. The right wing http://www.debbieschlussel.com/5868/let-em-rot-hiking-americans-detained... quickly figured out who we are, and are happy for them to die in Iranian prison. The American government has done nothing to get them out, reluctant to talk to Iran during an election year, and perhaps also glad to have them behind bars instead of exposing US and Israeli crimes in the region.

Their situation is not the most important in the world, but the issues on which they've been working may well be. To give just some examples from the time of their arrest, Shane, an accomplished independent journalist, had just exposed US-trained death squads in Iraq in a cover story for The Nation magazine. Sarah was teaching Iraqi refugees to help them find resettlement, and was finishing an article on women's struggles in Syria. Josh was doing social justice and sustainability education for international students in China, South Africa, and India before he arrived. I had just published a book on AK Press about Anarchism in the Balkans http://www.akpress.org/2009/items/suffledhowitgushakpress The four of us were living together in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, where we were deeply involved in the community.

This summer, I have spoken in 30 different social centers across Europe to call attention to my friends' situation and to share their amazing articles, photography, and films. Please take a moment to get to know my friends and their amazing work through a website I have recently set up with the tour: freeourfriends.eu . On the website, read the calls for their release by Noam Chomsky, Desmond Tutu, accomplished Middle East anti-imperialist writers Dahr Jamail and Anna Baltzer, the parents of slain activist Rachel Corrie, and our close friend Tristan Anderson who was shot by the Israel army in Palestine last year. Check out Shane's fifty articles he wrote from the Middle East, Sarah's video interview about the situation of Iraqi refugees in Syria, Josh's writing that all the occupations must come to an end. Then please take a moment to send the following email to the Iranian embassy in your country, or write your own. Iran does not want to alienate anti-war activists in the West, and is concerned when it sees global concern about my friends, not just from the US, so your letter can make a concrete difference. It's up to us as their fellow activists, and not the deadlock of state diplomacy, to free them.

Sample letter:

Dear Embassy of Iran-

I am writing to appeal to you to intercede with the appropriate authorities for the immediate release of anti-war activists Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal from detention in Iran. The three have been detained for over 400 days without significant charges. They have not once been allowed to consult with their lawyer, and have been allowed only one phone call and one visit with their families. Ms. Shourd has been forced to reside in solitary confinement 23 hours a day and has not received appropriate medical care, treatment which UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak has recently expressed serious concern.

By continuing to deprive Shane, Sarah and Josh of their liberty, Iran is working against some of the very causes it claims to support. Each of these three has a long and public record of contesting injustice in the world and in the Middle East in particular, working for justice in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, and often have often been strongly critical of US foreign policy. As acclaimed anti-war intellectual Noam Chomsky has said, "these young people represent a segment of the U.S. population that is critical of these policies, and often actively opposed to them. Hence their detention is particularly distressing to all of us who are dedicated to shifting U.S. policy to one of mutual respect rather than domination." Tristan Anderson, their long-time friend who was shot in Palestine by an Israeli soldier, whose sacrifice has been recognized in Iranian media, has himself demanded their release.

Please release them immediately so they can continue their valuable work.

Yours sincerely,

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