Sarah Shourd

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Sarah Shourd is an American journalist, author and playwright. She is known for being an advocate against the overuse of solitary confinement in prisons. [1] In 2009-10 she was held as a political hostage in Iran's Evin Prison for 410 days under accusations of espionage. She subsequently coauthored a book about the experience with her fellow hostages Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer. On Sept 14, 2010, the Iranian government released Shourd to the care of the Omani government. [2] Shourd did her Bachelors of Arts in 2001 from University of Berkeley. She was also a UC Berkeley Visiting Scholar in 2014. [3] [4]

Contents

Iranian trial and imprisonment, and calls for release

In July, 2009, Shourd was on a weekend trip with her then-boyfriend Shane Bauer and their friend Josh Fattal—who was visiting from USA. Shourd and Bauer lived in Damascus, Syria at the time. On July 31, 2009, Shourd was captured by Iranian border police after entering Iran while hiking around the popular tourist destination, Ahmad Awa, in Iraqi Kurdistan, which was considered an American tourist-friendly destination. [5] The soldiers accused them of illegally crossing into Iran and arrested them on the spot. [6] They were then driven to Evin Prison, in Tehran, where Shourd spend 410 days in solitary confinement in the political ward resulting her in suffering from extreme depression and anxiety. [7] [8] The arrest of Shourd and her two friends led to a global efforts campaigning for their release. Amnesty International also called on the Iranian authorities and demanded for the release of Shourd along with Bauer and Fattal. [9]

In 2010, Iran said they would release Shourd owing to her poor health condition (she was diagnosed with a pre-cancerous condition) after holding her more than a year in jail after a payment of bail of $500,000. [10] [11] She was finally released in September 2010 after a deal was brokered by the Swiss embassy that represents the US interests in Iran owing to the absence of any diplomatic ties between USA and Iran since 1979. [12] Post her release, She stated that she was released because she was a woman and in solitary confinement and that her health condition had nothing to do with it. [13] Shourd and her family publicly thanked Oman for playing a crucial role in making arrangements for securing her bail. [14] She also thanked Ali Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad for her compassionate release from detention because she feared that an absence of such a statement, Bauer and Fattal would not be free. [15] She was officially indicted of espionage and illegal entry by Iran. [16] The then President of the United States Barack Obama also issued a statement that he was pleased that she was released and was being reunited with her family. [17] Bauer proposed to Shourd while in the prison and the latter accepted. [18] They got married on May 5, 2012 in California. [19] They were subsequently divorced in 2019.

Career

As a journalist, Shourd has published on a variety of platforms, such as the New York Times, Mother Jones, Reuters, Daily Beast, Salon, San Francisco Magazine, SF Chronicle, and many more. [20]

Shourd wrote, produced, and later directed a play on the subject of solitary confinement, The BOX, which premiered at Z Space in San Francisco in 2016, where it was directed by Cuban playwright Michael John Garcés. The play is based on the two-year investigation Shourd conducted while working with watchdog organization Solitary Watch and as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Center for Law and Society, wherein she collected over 75 testimonies from prisoners kept in isolation in prisons across the U.S. She now works as an independent journalist, social engagement artist, and human rights strategy consultant in Oakland, California.

Bibliography

Books

YearTitleNotes
2014 A Sliver of Light Co-authored with Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal
2016 Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement [21] Editor, along with James Ridgeway and Jean Casella
2019Flying Kites: A Story about the 2013 California Hunger Strike. [22]

Essays and Op-eds

YearTitlePublication
2011Tortured by Solitude [23] The New York Times
2014How We Survived Two Years of Hell As Hostages in Tehran [24] Mother Jones
2014Torture Chambers of the Mind [25] The Washington Spectator
2015How Zapatista women learned to wear the pants—literally [26] Salon
2020Coronavirus crisis exposes public safety risk of mass incarcerationSan Francisco Chronicle

Awards

YearName
2016GLIDE Memorial Church's Hero Award [27]

Fellowships and Grants

YearName
2014Mesa Refuge Fellowship [28]
2015Furthur Foundation Grant [29]
2013Shuttleworth Foundation Grant [30]
2016Ragdale Residency [31]
2019 John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford [32]

Shourd was appointed visiting scholar by the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Law and Society in 2014. She has been the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships from Blue Mountain Center, CA Endowment, Entrekin Foundation, Neda Nobari Foundation, Vital Funds Project, Wattis Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation and more.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solitary confinement</span> Strict form of imprisonment

Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to discipline or separate incarcerated individuals who are considered to be security risks to other incarcerated individuals or prison staff, as well as those who violate facility rules or are deemed disruptive. However, it can also be used as protective custody for incarcerated individuals whose safety is threatened by other prisoners. This is employed to separate them from the general prison population and prevent injury or death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evin Prison</span> Prison in Iran

Evin Prison is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for the housing of Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "Evin University" due to the number of students and intellectuals housed there. Evin Prison has been accused of committing "serious human rights abuses" against its political dissidents and critics of the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola Three</span> American prison inmates in solitary for decades

The Angola Three are three African-American former prison inmates who were held for decades in solitary confinement while imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary. The latter two were indicted in April 1972 for the killing of a prison corrections officer; they were convicted in January 1974. Wallace and Woodfox served more than 40 years each in solitary, the "longest period of solitary confinement in American prison history".

White torture, often referred to as white room torture, is a type of psychological torture technique aimed at complete sensory deprivation and isolation. A prisoner is held in a cell that deprives them of all senses and identity. It is particularly used in Iran; however, there is also evidence of its use by Venezuelan and United States intelligence services.

Haleh Esfandiari is an Iranian-American academic and former Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Her areas of expertise include Middle Eastern women's issues, contemporary Iranian intellectual currents and politics, and democratic developments in the Middle East. She was detained in solitary confinement at Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran for more than 110 days from May 8 to August 21, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kian Tajbakhsh</span> Iranian academic

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazanin Boniadi</span> British actress and activist (born 1980)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran</span>

On July 31, 2009, three Americans, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer were taken into custody by Iranian border guards for crossing into Iran while hiking near the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Shane Bauer is an American journalist, best known for his undercover reporting for Mother Jones magazine. He has won several awards including the Harvard's Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the National Magazine Award for Best Reporting.

Solitary Watch is a web-based project that aims to bring public attention to the widespread use of solitary confinement in the United States. Its mission is to provide the public—as well as practicing attorneys, legal scholars, law enforcement, and people in prison and their families—with a reputable source of unfolding news, original reporting, firsthand accounts, and research on solitary confinement and other harsh prison conditions to generate public debate and policy change.

Masoud Shafiee is an Iranian lawyer. He is best known for serving as the attorney for three American hikers that were detained in Iran from July 2009 to September 2011. His specialty is representing clients in Iran with American-linked legal problems. Since the release of the Americans, Shafiee has been briefly arrested, interrogated and had his passport confiscated by the Iranian authorities.

Philo Louis Dibble was an American diplomat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narges Mohammadi</span> Iranian human rights activist (born 1972)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salem Ben Nasser Al-Ismaily</span>

Dr. Salem Ben Nasser Al-Ismaily is an Omani advisor at the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Al-Ismaily was previously the chairman and chief executive officer of the Sultanate of Oman Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development, or Ithraa. Al Ismaily has been conferred by the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, the second class order of Oman and by Qaboos bin Said bin Taimur, the late Sultan of Oman, the third and the second class orders of Oman.

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<i>A Sliver of Light</i> 2014 memoir by Shane Bauer

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References

  1. ↑ "Sarah Shourd". John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  2. ↑ Bauer, Shane; Fattal, Josh; Shourd, Sarah. "Kidnapped by Iran: 780 days of isolation, two dozen interrogations, one marriage proposal". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  3. ↑ "Sarah Shourd". John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  4. ↑ "Security Verification | LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  5. ↑ Bauer, Shane; Fattal, Josh; Shourd, Sarah. "Kidnapped by Iran: 780 days of isolation, two dozen interrogations, one marriage proposal". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  6. ↑ "Held Hostage in Iran: American Hiker Sarah Shourd's First Interview". Oprah.com. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  7. ↑ "'Like an Animal': Freed U.S. Hiker Recalls 410 Days in Iran Prison". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  8. ↑ "Freed US female hiker leaves Iran". 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  9. ↑ "Iran must release or try US hikers held without charge for a year". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  10. ↑ Black, Ian; editor, Middle East (2010-09-12). "Iran demands $500,000 to free US hiker Sarah Shourd". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-01-18.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  11. ↑ "Freed US female hiker leaves Iran". 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  12. ↑ Black, Ian; editor, Middle East (2010-09-14). "Iran frees US hiker Sarah Shourd after detaining her on spy charges". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-01-18.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  13. ↑ EST, Ramin Setoodeh On 12/23/10 at 8:00 AM (2010-12-23). "Sarah Shourd on Her Imprisonment in Iran". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-01-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "American woman freed by Iran is grateful, humbled". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  15. ↑ Shourd, Sarah (2011-12-26). "Sarah Shourd, One of the Three American Hikers Freed from Prison in Iran, Sounds Off" . Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  16. ↑ "Sarah Shourd: My Suffering Is Not Over". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  17. ↑ "American woman freed by Iran is grateful, humbled". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  18. ↑ EST, Ramin Setoodeh On 12/23/10 at 8:00 AM (2010-12-23). "Sarah Shourd on Her Imprisonment in Iran". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-01-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ the CNN Wire Staff. "U.S. hikers who were held in Iran marry in California". CNN. Retrieved 2020-01-19.{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  20. ↑ "Sarah Shourd". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  21. ↑ "Hell Is a Very Small Place". The New Press. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  22. ↑ "The House Where Our Stories Live". Pulitzer Center. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  23. ↑ "Opinion | Tortured by Solitude (Published 2011)". www.nytimes.com. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  24. ↑ Bauer, Shane; Fattal, Josh; Shourd, Sarah. "Kidnapped by Iran: 780 days of isolation, two dozen interrogations, one marriage proposal". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  25. ↑ "Torture Chambers of the Mind". Washington Spectator. 2014-09-02. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  26. ↑ "How Zapatista women learned to wear the pants—literally". Salon. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  27. ↑ "Sarah Shourd: 2016 Community Hero Award Recipient". Vimeo. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  28. ↑ "Sarah Shourd". Mesa Refuge. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  29. ↑ "2015 Furthur Foundation Grantees". Furthur Foundation. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  30. ↑ "Flash Grants". The Shuttleworth Foundation. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  31. ↑ "Sarah Shourd | Ragdale". 2017-07-16. Archived from the original on 2017-07-16. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  32. ↑ "Sarah Shourd". John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
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