Freed Hikers Condemn Iran, US for Human Rights Violations

Having finally been released, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal returned to the US with stories of human rights violations within the Iranian prison in which they were held, saying they were “comparable” to the conditions at the US-run Guantanamo Bay.

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Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz

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JLS

Who just decides to go for a hike on the Iraq/Iran border?????
- Valerianus
  
  CIA/Mossad agents, perhaps?
- Donald Schulze
  
  Those two that were recently released from Iran – every, Every, EVERY newspaper title, tv news anchor lead in always, without exception. refers to them as "hikers"? Call me a skeptic, but, who the hell goes into a war zone to 'hike' along the border of a country that the USGovernment is not friendly with? I've never tasted bullshit, but I know what it smells like.
- Donald Schulze
  
  Those two that were recently released from Iran – every, Every, EVERY newspaper title, tv news anchor lead in always, without exception. refers to them as "hikers"? Call me a skeptic, but, who the hell goes into a war zone to 'hike' along the border of a country that the USGovernment is not friendly with? I've never tasted bullsh!t, but I know what it smells like.
esqueleto

Were they subjected to torture, sensory deprivation, shackling, hooding, dogs, etc? No. That's what the US does. Conclusion: STFU. Count your stars you werent summarily executed as your own country does.
Observer

These guys look Israelis, their names sound alike, what the hell do American "Hikers" have to hike in a war region?

Sorry, but I don't believe in fairy tales any more.
John Ellis

Who cares? Totally irreverent as their credibility is zero.
paulBass

"About 31,000 non-citizens are held in immigration detention on any given day,[31] including children, in over 200 detention centres, jails, and prisons nationwide."
"About 104[32] mostly young individuals have died in detention of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or shortly afterwards during the five years between 2003 to 2008, and medical neglect may have contributed to 30 of those deaths." -wikipediea

last i checked mexico does not regularly threaten to nuke us
curmudgeonvt

So many inconsistent and unanswered questions…

1. WTF were they doing "hiking" along the border between 2 waring countries? No one hikes, unarmed, in those parts of the world – especially when one of them is a young female. Hiking…seriously? Nah.

2. Why would the Sultan of Oman feel obligated to cough up $1.5 million for 3 "hikers?" He may be a nice guy but I doubt he's $1.5 million nice. What did he get in kind – and from whom?

3. And these "hikers" should be thankful, as stated above that they're alive and breathing. People convicted (if they even get a trial) of espionage don't usually live long past sentencing.

Too many inconsistencies to be believable – but then I'm a skeptic by nature.
- liveload
  
  While difficult, it's not impossible to get into these regions as a civilian. It just depends upon what kind of risks you're willing to take. I can't speak for motivations or logistics for such an…adventure, but it's not out of the question. Here's another question, how many hikers do they get in that region, generally speaking? Is it a tourist trap (pun?), or something only hardcore, funded, and well supplied venture into? I wouldn't imagine the indigenous people doing much other than greeting you and treating you as a guest (the region is famous for that…'taarof', the Iranians call it), but there's more than just them milling about in a war zone.
Jamie N

They were not hiking must have been spying and are just luky it was not an American military jail or you would probably be dead.Why would Iran tourture you then let you go to tell the story.I think its all bull impart to make Iran look bad America takes ever chance they get at that.I know 1 thing forsure wer are reading lies.
Jamal

Prisons are cruel. So what else is new. Guess who has the most prisoners in proportion to its population. The US by a long shot. There are plenty of people rotting away in US prisons for stupid things like drug possession/dealing and lying to the government. If you want to talk about corrupt use of prisons, every country is bad, but the US is the worst by far.
- thedissenter
  
  Actually, that may not be altogether true. Palestinians have the largest per capita of citizens in (Israeli) jails on the entire world. The US comes in second.
  - JLS
    
    US has 5% of the world's population and 25%, a full quarter of the world's prisoners:
    
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/…
thedissenter

Still, the fact that they are free speaks volumes about Iran. Look at the schmucks in Guantanamo (the ones that haven't been murdered that is) and tell me if they have been afforded the same opportunities and human rights as these three little Mossad shills.