• [ABC] Freed hikers discuss life in Iranian prison
    17 replies, posted
[i][b]This is an abridged version of the article, see the link at the bottom for the full article and the video[/i][/b] [quote]Freed U.S. hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer told reporters gathered at a New York hotel that they were so isolated in the Iranian prison where they were held for over two years that they didn't know they were being freed until minutes before their release last week. Now that they are back on American soil, Fattal and Bauer are using their newfound freedom to discuss the two years they spent in a Tehran prison and to condemn their captors. [b]For the first time the two were able to give the details of the isolation in which they lived and the conditions in Tehran's Evin Prison, where they spent 781 days.[/b] "In all the time we spent in detention, we had a total of 15 minutes of telephone calls with our families and one, short visit from our mothers. [b]We had to go on hunger strike repeatedly just to receive letters from our loved ones[/b]," Fattal told reporters. [b]"Many times, too many times, we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten and there was nothing we could do to help them," he said, "Solitary confinement was the worst experience of our lives. "It was clear to us from the very beginning that we were hostages," he added. They were often blind-folded, occasionally beaten, and repeatedly lied to -- told their families had stopped writing letters and that diplomats had stopped pushing for their freedom. "We have been held in almost total isolation from the world and everything we love," Bauer said.[/b] To survive in jail, the two kept busy improvising -- testing each other on graduate school exam questions, reading novels, and exercising with whatever they could find. "They were very serious about their exercise and they used water bottles as weights in their cells to build muscles," Laura Fattal, Alex Fattal's mother said. Fattal, Bauer and Bauer's now fiancée Sarah Shourd were arrested over two years ago while hiking along Iran's unmarked border with Iraq. They were accused of spying, and last month Fattal and Bauer were sentenced to eight years in prison. "Journalists remain behind bars and innocent people have been executed," Bauer said. "If the Iranian government wants to change its image in the world, and ease international pressure, it should release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience immediately. They deserve their freedom just as much as we do."[/quote] [i]Article by Jim Sciutto, ABC[/i] - [url]http://abcnews.go.com/International/freed-hikers-discuss-life-iranian-prison/story?id=14605539[/url] I'm sure someone already posted an article of the release of these two, but I couldn't find anything pertaining to their telling of the experience. It's disgusting that you can unwittingly cross an invisible border and be imprisoned and systematically denied contact with the outside world. What's worse is that I can only imagine native prisoners are treated much worse than international prisoners. At the very least, they came out fighting for the rights of so many others trapped in the arbitrary imprisonment of innocent people. I can only imagine how many others are still trapped in it, without a voice to be recognized and receive global support for their safety and release. I strongly recommend reading the full article; their story is simultaneously heart-wrenching and inspiring.
Sounds like any dictatorship prison, from the reports we've gotten in the Arab Spring. Iran has such promise, shame it's ruled by a despot.
[QUOTE=ThePutty;32488648]Sounds like any dictatorship prison, from the reports we've gotten in the Arab Spring. Iran has such promise, shame it's ruled by a despot.[/QUOTE] Sadly, aside from hearing the cries of prisoners being beaten (which may also occur, I've never been), it's not that far off from American prisons. In fact, withholding familial contact and lying to a suspect/prisoner are common and widely accepted interrogation tactics. And of course solitary confinement is huge in America. Maybe it's different in New Zealand, though. (Correct me if I'm wrong about the country, that flag is teensy-tiny.)
[QUOTE=Ultra Violence;32488695]Sadly, aside from hearing the cries of prisoners being beaten (which may also occur, I've never been), it's not that far off from American prisons. In fact, withholding familial contact and lying to a suspect/prisoner are common and widely accepted interrogation tactics. And of course solitary confinement is huge in America. Maybe it's different in New Zealand, though. (Correct me if I'm wrong about the country, that flag is teensy-tiny.)[/QUOTE] Click on it, it's Australia, New Zealand have red stars with a white outline and they don't have the star underneath the Union Jack.
[QUOTE=Article;32488551]"Many times, too many times, we heard the screams of other prisoners being beaten and there was nothing we could do to help them," he said[/QUOTE] Wow those barbarians! Haven't they learned how to waterboard prisoners like civilised people!?
99% US propaganda.
Hm eerily reminds me of the accounts I've read of the National Prison for Evil Brown People.
[QUOTE=doonbugie2;32489892]99% US propaganda.[/QUOTE] I'm sorry.. But.. What? Iran is a terrible country in general. I don't see how you can think this is propaganda.
[QUOTE=Sir_takeslot;32497738]I'm sorry.. But.. What? Iran is a terrible country in general. I don't see how you can think this is propaganda.[/QUOTE] And the US and all of their allies are not a fuckton different. We torture people, we infringe on people's rights, start wars for shit that's none of our business. It's so much better to half-drown your victim of choice than give him a good beating, duh.
Spies get what spies deserve long live Iran!!!!!!
[QUOTE=Jawalt;32498005]And the US and all of their allies are not a fuckton different. We torture people, we infringe on people's rights, start wars for shit that's none of our business. It's so much better to half-drown your victim of choice than give him a good beating, duh.[/QUOTE] Sure, I have seen in the news where protestors in New York got gunned down during their rather peaceful opposistion to election results..............riiiight.......
Still sounds better than Guantanamo Bay to me.
[QUOTE=doonbugie2;32489892]99% US propaganda.[/QUOTE] Hell yeah high five bro, Google Ron Paul PS bitcoins
[QUOTE=Jawalt;32498005]And the US and all of their allies are not a fuckton different. We torture people[/QUOTE]We've tortured people in ONE place, and you could argue it was for a good cause. You'd sound like a dick if you did, but hey.[QUOTE=Jawalt;32498005]we infringe on people's rights[/QUOTE]Every country has done or is doing the whole "infringing on rights" shit, Every country. Ever. History of ever. Before history of ever was even written.[QUOTE=Jawalt;32498005]start wars for shit that's none of our business.[/QUOTE]Really? We're not unique in this, you know! We've been pretty fucking reasonable, if you ask me.[QUOTE=Jawalt;32498005]It's so much better to half-drown your victim of choice than give him a good beating, duh.[/QUOTE]Yes, because waterboarding is really a huge practice in US prisons. On the other hand, the hundreds (just spitballin' a number here) of blogs, documentaries, articles and other media have all universally agreed that Iran is not exactly worried about "human rights violations." So allow me to disagree with you, the US and all of "their" allies are a fuckton different. We at least STOP when you catch us doing dirty things, Iran doesn't give a shit and does it more.
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;32499933] So allow me to disagree with you, the US and all of "their" allies are a fuckton different. We at least STOP when you catch us doing dirty things, Iran doesn't give a shit and does it more.[/QUOTE] I bet my fucking ass that waterboarding or "enchanced interrogation" hasn't stopped. :v:
fuckin sand monkeys [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Racism" - Orkel))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=aydin690;32499530]Still sounds better than Guantanamo Bay to me.[/QUOTE] Oh sure, regular Iranian prisons are [i]way[/i] better than Gitmo. Mass executions, torture involving everything from amputations to electric cable whippings to rapes and beatings in order to extract false confessions, and we can't forget how they starve entire blocks of prisoners for the hell of it... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je-HHlgel4k[/media] If you think that's better than Guantanamo Bay, you need to tell your parents to stop sheltering you so much. Or find a way to bash the stupid out of your brain. Whatever works for you, mate.
I think we can all agree that both Guantanamo and Iranian prisons aren't pleasant places to be and that numerous human rights violations have occurred there. At least these two men are attempting to actually do something about it.
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