From Vacation to Years in Iranian Prison

Three American friends, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd, have been arrested by Iranian officials on July 31, 2009 for illegally crossing the Iraq border into Iran as spies. They were all sent to Iran's Evin prison in Tehran, which is notoriously known for their torture. All three families have spoken out for their children, stating that crossing the border was an accident. Many different methods were used to help convince the Iranian officials, including letters to the president, internet websites, and speeches from famous figures. In the summer of 2010, Sarah Shourd was freed with a $500,000 dollar fee due to her medical conditions. After her release, Sarah has spoken openly about her experience at the prison and tried convince the Iranian president for the freeing of the other two hikers. In August 2011, Iranian officials sentenced Fattal and Bauer to an eight year imprisonment for entering Iran as spies. Surprisingly, the president of Iran this week during an interview said the two hikers will be released soon as a 'humanitarian gesture' that will perhaps 'solve problems'. These words have divided opinions from the mass public. Some believe the hikers will be soon released while others are doubtful. It has been two and a half years and the wait continues.

One main cause of this misunderstanding between the Iranian officials and American hikers is history. Due to the fact that Iran and US has had poor relations in the past, stereotypes and hatred has developed. Therefore, the Iranian officials instantly assumed that the American hikers were spies because they took a less well known route for their hike. According to the article, the hikers chose this route because they were trying to evade the battles raging at another part of Iraq. Instead of using reason, the officials turned to emotions for solving the problem. The feelings of hatred against the Americans helped the officials make their decision and sent them to prison. On the other hand, if someone breaks a law in a foreign country, they must obey the rules. The hikers should be rightfully punished according to the laws of Iran. Personally I think that the officials were right to send the hikers to prison as their law states that crossing the borders without documents is illegal. One thing that didn’t make perfect sense was the fact that the officials labeled the hikers as spies. What is a spy and how can we determine one? The problem of language arises and can be argued both ways. The hiker's main motive to enter Iran was for hiking so then no secret observing was involved while one may argue that spying could be done unconsciously. I think that the time period for the arrest should be significantly shortened. This is because most likely, the hikers are not 'spies' and so there's no point for capturing two innocent Americans for two and a half years when they don’t have any kind of thread to the Iranian government and are consuming food and space in the prison.

The main root of this issue is language, reason, and emotion. Similar cases where these problems occur are articles dealing with international relationships. For example, Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, was detained at JFK airport while switching flights as the US government obtained inaccurate information that Arar has close relationships with terrorist groups. He was transferred to Syria and was tortured for a year. Again, officials don’t take enough time and reasoning in making a judgment call when someone's life is in their hands. Most times, people would use their gut feeling in making a decision, which as we saw in the movie 12 Angry Men, it isn't always the right and best solution.