Interfaith plays a part in hikers’ release

After nearly a year of appeals for the two American hikers still held in custody after their arrest in July 2009, interfaith was the key to bringing Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal home.

Thanks in part to efforts from an American delegation of religious leaders from Washington and the prominent Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the government in Tehran finally agreed to release the two men.

Accused of espionage for the United States, the two men, along with a third female hiker, were taken into custody for crossing the Iran-Iraq border two years ago. The three state they accidentally crossed into Iran while hiking in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Sarah Shourd, the third member of the party, was released last year on humanitarian grounds.

However, the government based in Tehran clearly disagreed with the “lost hiker” alibi for the two males, sentencing them to three years for illegal entry into Iran and five additional years for spying.

Fortunately, the conservative Muslim government was prevailed upon to reconsider the decision to imprison Bauer and Fattal starting with a personal letter campaign addressed to Ahmedinejad last September. With the support of famous figures such as Muhammad Ali supporting the cause, prominent Muslim American and interfaith leaders have contributed to the publicity of this ambiguous case.

Furthermore, prominent Christian leaders aided the cause to prove that the religions can work together peacefully for the sake of human rights. While the hikers have lost two years of their lives in this tumultuous rights case, the compliance of Iranian religious leaders has led to a collective sigh of relief for all those involved in the delicate political issue.

Finally, the hikers are coming home.