[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 175 (Monday, November 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11984-S11985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DETENTION IN IRAN

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I come to the floor to call attention 
to the situation of three citizens of the United States--Shane Bauer, 
Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal--who have been detained by the Government 
of Iran for nearly 4 months. One of these individuals, Shane Bauer, 
comes from my home State of Minnesota, and so the safe return of these 
three young Americans is of particular importance to me.
  On July 31 of this year, Shane, Sarah, and Josh--who shared a common 
passion for travel and discovery--were on a hiking trip in a peaceful 
region in northern Iraq, when they reportedly accidentally strayed 
across the poorly marked border between Iraq and Iran and were 
surrounded by Iranian border guards.
  Since then, Shane, Sarah, and Josh have been held in near isolation 
in a Tehran prison and have been allowed no contact with their families 
in the United States.
  Despite repeated requests by the Swiss Government, which represents 
U.S. interests in Iran, the three have

[[Page S11985]]

been denied regular consular access required by the Vienna Convention. 
They have been denied repeated requests to be able to speak with their 
families via telephone, and they have been denied public information on 
any charges they may face.
  In the 4 months they have been detained, the three have been allowed 
only two meetings with Swiss consular officials and have been denied 
due process and access to legal representation.
  Even more alarming, Iranian officials have recently declared the 
three may be charged with espionage, a charge that is not only baseless 
but also completely at odds with who Shane, Sarah, and Josh are as 
individuals.
  Shane, Sarah, and Josh made a simple mistake in accidentally crossing 
the border, and their continued detention is unwarranted and 
unreasonable. Since the three were detained, I have gotten to know 
Shane's mother Cindy and other members of the hikers' families. During 
our conversations, I have learned what a remarkable person Shane is and 
how he is dedicated through his work to bringing the world closer 
together through photo journalism.

  Shane grew up in Onamia, MN, a small town in the central part of our 
State, and he graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. 
Prior to being detained in Iran, Shane was living with Sarah in 
Damascus. He has traveled around the Middle East as a free-lance 
journalist, reporting from Syria, Iraq, Darfur, Yemen, and Ethiopia. 
His writing and award-winning photographs have been published in the 
United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and throughout the Middle 
East.
  His latest trip with Sarah and Josh brought him to the Kurdistan 
region of Iraq, which is known for its scenic hikes among mountainous 
waterfalls. This is hardly the background of someone who would 
deliberately enter Iran in hopes of committing espionage.
  A few weeks ago, I met with Shane's mom Cindy and members of Sarah 
and Josh's families in my office in Washington. As a mother, I can only 
imagine how difficult this ordeal must be for all of them. They have 
had no contact with their sons or their daughter. Yet I have been 
overwhelmed by their resolve. They are pursuing every avenue they can 
find to demonstrate to the Iranian Government that their children made 
a simple mistake and clearly deserve to be released.
  I came away from our meeting even more committed to seeing that Cindy 
and Shane, along with Sarah and Josh and their families, are united as 
soon as possible. As we all know, Iran is in the center of many 
pressing foreign policy challenges we currently face. I, along with my 
colleagues, will address those, but Shane, Sarah, and Josh have 
absolutely nothing to do with these international fights. They have 
nothing to do with what is going on in Iran or Iran's differences with 
other countries. This is strictly a humanitarian case. I urge Iranian 
officials not to politicize it or seek to use the three hikers as 
diplomatic pawns. There is no cause for their continued detention, and 
nothing will be gained by prolonging it any further. Iran's leaders 
should demonstrate the necessary compassion by immediately releasing 
Shane, Sarah, and Josh and allowing them to return home to their 
families. In the meantime, they should at the very least allow them to 
speak to their families in the United States over the telephone.
  I thank my friend, the Ambassador to Switzerland, and Swiss officials 
for their work in this area. It has been 122 days since Shane, Sarah, 
and Josh were first detained; 122 days in captivity, apparently just 
for straying over a line on a map when they were on a hike. We will 
continue to work with the families, with the State Department, and 
Swiss officials to do everything we can to bring Shane home to 
Minnesota.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

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