03/18/14 03/18/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! screaming and all i could think was i wanted it to stop. it sounded far away. then the doors of my cell burst open and one of the guards came in and started shaking the. i looked at her and threw her eyes i could see myself. i realized i had been screening. >> today, sarah shourd, shane bauer, and josh fattal. the american hikers were held

hostage in iran recalled her harrowing ordeal. for 410 days, mostly in solitary confinement. held for 26sh were months. their memoir is being published today. >> it wasn't until six months or so into it that we saw a new sticker, american spies to go to trial at some point. we kept telling our interrogators, what are we being charged with? they would say, we don't know. >> and we will look at what they've been doing since the release. >> once i left prison, it didn't feel over. i thought about the people i was in prison with. i thought about prisoners around the world. it made sense to me to start looking into prisons in this country. >> all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. russia is formally recognized crimea as an independent state, paving the way for the annexation and define new sanctions led by the united states. in a speech today, russian president vladimir putin announced his support for itsxing crimea following vote sunday to break off from ukraine and join the russian federation. putin called it an integral part and denied it was part of the -- they comes after president obama unveiled travel bans and asset freezes targeting the small number of top russian officials, including putin's longtime adviser and step the prime minister. >> i assigned a new executive order that expands the scope of our sanctions. as an initial step, i'm authorizing sanctions on russian officials. an individual's who provide material support to senior officials of the russian government.

and if russia continues to interfere in ukraine, we stand ready to impose further sanctions. >> the european union has also unveiled a similar list of limited sanctions. obama is due to visit europe next week for talks on the ukraine crisis with top allies. president obama meanwhile hosted palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas sunday in a bid to convince them to accept israel's partial annexation of the occupied west bank. obama and secretary of state john kerry are trying to obtain a framework agreement between israel and the ta before a deadline of next month. it is widely believed john kerry's plan endorses israeli goals of holding onto a israeli settlement blocs and other valuable land. obama said both sides will have to compromise on the path to peace. >> as i said to prime minister netanyahu when he was here a couple of weeks ago, i believe now is the time for not just the leaders of both sides, but also the peoples of the site to

embrace this opportunity for peace. we will have a lot of details we will have to discuss stop it is very hard and challenging and we are going to have to take some tough lyrical decisions and risks -- political decisions and risks if we are going to move it forward. my hope is we can continue to see progress in the coming days and weeks. >> president abbas is also ming has to recognize israel as a jewish state, a demand he has reportedly rejected on the grounds palestinians would be legitimizing their own expulsion. as he met with obama in washington, thousands of palestinians rallied in rome a to resistg on abbas pressure to abandon basic palestinian rights. at least 50 people have been killed in a suicide attack on a busy market in afghanistan's northern province of faryab. afghanistan's parliament over the weekend, president karzai renewed his refusal to sign an agreement that would allow u.s. troops to remain after this year. elections for his replacement

are early next month. report says the justice department massively overstated its excesses and targeting mortgage fraud while in fact ranking it as a low priority for investigation. the justice department's inspector general says despite playing a central role in the nation's financial crisis, or fraud was deemed either a low priority or not a priority at all. in one instance, attorney general eric holder signed to file lawsuits on behalf of homeowner becomes for losses totaling more than $1 billion. but the actual amount was 91% less, around 90 $5 million. on monday, three democratic lawmakers asked holder for meeting to discuss the lapse. in a letter to mother three said -- "this report calls into question the department's commitment to investigate and prosecute crimes such as predatory lending, loan

modification scams, and abusive mortgage servicing practices." separate statement, republican senator charles grassley of iowa said -- a second hunger strike is broken out at an immigration detention center owned by the private prison corporation geo group. detainees at the joe corley detention center in texas have begun refusing meals in protest of their treatment there. he action comes as prisoners at the geo group run tacoma detention center in washington state are entering their third week on hunger strike. the obama administration ordered a review of deportation procedures last week amidst a wave of criticism of policies that have separated nearly 2 million people from their families. the auto giant general motors has announced a recall of in the 1.6 million cars unfolding fallout from defects linked to scores of deaths. over 3.1 million vehicles have now been recalled in the last two months over faulty ignition switches that shut down engines and air bags.

in a rare of perhaps unprecedented admission, gm ceo mary berra acknowledged terrible things have happened as a result. >> these are serious developments that should not surprise anyone. after all, something went wrong with our process in this instance and terrible things happen. we're conducting an intense review of our internal processes , and we will have more development to announce as we move forward. the bottom line is, we will be better because of this tragic situation if we seize the opportunity. >> you can go to our website to see our interview with ralph nader out general motors. the white house is reportedly delaying a vote on president obama's pick for surgeon general following congressional opposition to his advocacy of gun control. dr. murphy has come under criticism from the national rifle association for backing gun registration and an assault weapons ban. it apparently has prodded opposition from at least 10 senate democrats, several of whom are up for reelection.

jay carney confirmed murthy won't face an immediate vote, saying the administration is recalibrating his strategy. the coalition of groups led by the american civil liberties union has filed suit against a new law in idaho that is the documentation of animal abuse and industrial farms. approved last month, the measure is part of a wave of so-called ag-gag loss a crackdown on those who secretly film or photograph harm to livestock. the suit claims the law is intended to "silence the undercover investigations and meaty covers i contribute a public debate about animal treatment and food safety." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today in a democracy now! special, i'm joined by three guests. they were friends who set out on a hike in the summer of 2009 in iraq's kurdish region the iranian border. but there hike ended in their arrest. shane bauer and josh fattal were held in iran for more than two years, and sarah shourd, now

married to shane bauer, was held for more than a year -- much of it in solitary confinement. the three of them tell their story the new book the lease today. it is called, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." i asked sarah shored to take us back to the day in 2009 with a set out for their hike. >> shane have been living in the middle east for more than a year and we were living in damascus and traveled all around the region. northern iraq was a part of the middle east we were eager to explore. josh cantor visit and we all agreed it was an exciting prospect. we had done research in the area. it is a semi-autonomous part of iraq and in 2011, it was on the top 41 travel destinations in the "new york times." so no american has been killed or captured there in recent decades. it is not a war zone. we went there because i had a week off work and we wanted to enjoy ourselves. >> explain the work you are

doing in syria. >> i was working with the iraqi student project helping young iraqis who had been in college when u.s.-led war started in iraq and they could not continue their education in syria. they were barred from higher education. we were helping them get into schools in the u.s. and europe. >> shane? >> i was working as a journalist in the middle east. >> josh comes to visit you and you go on this vacation to show him a good time. >> exactly. our other friend was there but he decided to stay in the hotel, thankfully for us, because he was the one that was later able to inform the embassy in baghdad that we had been captured. site that a tourist had been recommended to us by several people. it was full of people, teeming with life, hundreds of kurdish with their families camping. >> waterfalls? >> it is a small waterfall, but any water is a big attraction in that area.

it was lovely. someone pointed out a trail to us. if we made any mistake, we hiked too far. we were maybe overzealous and happy to be together. we saw a soldier in the distance. he called for us to come to him. of course, our first thought was, a kurdish soldier, we will have a cup of tea an interesting conversation. >> did anyone at the hotel warn you, by the way, you will be on the border and be careful? >> no one mentioned it. we went through several checkpoints. we saw kurdish soldiers and no one mentioned our proximity to the iranian border. for the you are along ride. you're hiking and seeing each other, a reunion. you haven't seen each other for a while. talk about the hike. >> i had been teaching at a university program in switzerland. >> what were you teaching? >> it was a program for american students studying international health care. may, ie program ended in

figured i should travel a little more before heading back to the united states. i went to the middle east to see these guys. i ended up there a little longer than i expected. when we were on the hike, when we got to the top, we soon realized that we were in iran. >> can i ask something iago the you think you actually cross the border? was there a fence there? was there some marker? >> no. >> so do you know if you had crossed the border before the iranian soldier beckoned you? after wewe were told were arrested, we were taken across where there was this shack where the soldiers were. tiny bit ofspoke a english. we said we wanted to go back and asked for the border was. wepointed to this path that

had been walking on. you said, that is the border. and there's this little mound alongside it. when they called us, we actually crossed that path. from what he was saying, we crossed the border when they actually called us over. he actually contacted sarah later on facebook. >> really? >> yes, one of the soldiers contacted me on facebook. so many people from our experience, other prisoners we were in the cells alongside, have contacted me or all of us on facebook. at first i did not believe him. i said, ok, this is , why should i believe you? specific details. he convinced me he was one of those soldiers. i asked him, where is the border? he said, the trails we were walking on. we were on the trail and they called us off the trail. >> he apologized? i would like to ask, through

this broadcast, i would like each of you to read a selection from "a sliver of light." shane, let's start with you. >> this was a couple days after we had been arrested. we were being transferred around andern iran, and at night we were put into a car and driven out to the countryside. askre are we going, stair ed. the pudgy man, turning around to face is, putting his finger to his lips. the headlights of the car traveling this reveal his cold, board eyes. he turned back to face the front. the solitary life of the countryside streamed by like meteorites. the car falls silent again. he picks up a gun in his right hand and cox it three times. eyes widened, her posture stiffened. she leans to the front and with a note of desperation says, i'm a genocide good, obama bad.

the pistol is resting on his lap. he holds his two hands out with palms facing each other. iran, he says, nodding toward his one hand. america, he says that in the other. problem he says stretching out the distance between them. he checks our faces to make sure his message resonates. she asks, do you think he is going to hurt us? i don't know whether to respond or stair. i am terrified. we walked in our fear together, leading a fall softly like a fog. the immediate prospect of death seem so different than i imagined it. in my mind, i see is pulling over to the side of the road and leaving the car quietly. my tremendous legs will convey me mechanically over the rocky earth. i will be holding sarah's hand but i willsh's, too, just be walking flesh with no spirit. we will kiss passionately before the final trigger is pulled. we won't scream or run.

we will be like mice. paralyzed by fear, limp in the slack-jawed a catch. we will just in there. each of us will fall one by one, hitting the ground to the earth with a thud." >> that a shane bauer reading from his new book -- i should say, their new book, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." , ande joined by josh sarah. shane, the selection you just read is chilling. talk about what happened from there. >> after that section? >> that was how long after you are beckoned by the soldiers? >> i think two days after if i remember right. after that happened, we were taken to a jail out in the country, small jailhouse that seemed to be empty. we were kept there for a couple of days. we still thought we were going

to be taken back to iraq. we were near the border. we were -- one morning we were picked up and we were told they were taking us back to iraq and we drove and drove. eventually, realized we were driving east and we had been for a few hours. we realized we were going to tehran. as we got there more put in a van, blindfolded, andrew into what we later found out months later, really, found out it was the central prison of iran. >> how many prisoners are held there? >> i don't know the total number, but there are hundreds of political prisoners it is a massive prison. >> at what point did you start to understand what you would be charged with? >> up until the end, they were telling us. it wasn't until six or so months in we saw a new sticker saying -- a news ticker saying, american spies to go to trial at some point. we kept telling our

interrogators, what are we being charged with? they would say, we don't know. we would say, well, it said it on tv. >> our interrogators told us not long after we were arrested during interrogation that we they knew we were not spies, but the situation had become a lyrical and it would take negotiations between our government and their government for us to be released, and we would just have to wait for that. >> shane bauer, sarah shourd and telling their storyal in a new book released today, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." we continue our conversation in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we're spending the hour with shane bauer, sarah shourd and josh fattal. their book, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." it is just out. at first, sarah and shane were held in neighboring cells and josh was separate, then the men were put together and sarah was held alone in solitary confinement. i asked them about their interrogations and whether they were tortured. we start with sarah shourd. >> interrogations, i mean, in the beginning we were hunger striking. i was completely disoriented.

but i still had a hard time taking the line of questioning seriously because it was just a total farce. one of the things they demanded of me was to draw a picture of the lobby of the pentagon. i said, i've never been to the pentagon. i've never even been to washington, d.c. at this time i had never been there. he said, but you are a teacher. all teachers go to the pentagon. if i did not know at some level that i was in serious danger, i would have laughed out loud. at the same time, it was impossible to laugh. >> there were times they asked ,e one question i was asked was they listed several countries in the middle east and asked me to name them in order of what countries most subservient to the united states to the least subservient. they asked me what newspapers are controlled. these kinds of things.

>> and they wanted your passwords to check your e-mail? was this an issue? >> i initially refused to my first interrogation to give them my password. i was taken back to my cell and was in solitary confinement. my head starts spinning immediately and i think i'm going to be here, sitting here as long as i don't give them the password. the next time, i gave it to them immediately. he did not really have anything to hide. >> you were journalist, so you are communicating with people. >> yes. they also managed to wrap it into the narrative of being a spy. they asked me how i got in touch with defense think tanks in the u.s. i would say, does go to the website. there's a contact button. hit that button and send an e-mail. >> josh, the questions they ask you? >> the main question, the one i got every interrogation at least

once is, what is your full biography? it is kind of a tough question to answer. and then they would say, what reid doing their? those were the two main questions they seem to be asking about my heritage and trips i took to israel. my father is israeli and half my family is in israel, and they wanted to know who i met and what i did. i said, well i went to my aunt's house to drink tea and then went home. we did not do anything. then they would give me a list of names to sort of identify. usually could not identify any of them. they were names to me that struck me as quite jewish names. >> did you say you were jewish right away? >> originally, no. i did not know what to say. i just said, i'm christian. i was scared. i thought i might as well hide that. totally --ions were

one of the first questions they asked me was, if you're really american -- because they were accusing me of being french. they would say, spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocio us. it is very disoriented and justice ring ting. -- it is very disorienting. they admitted they knew we were not spies. it had become political. >> werther beatings and psychological torture? >> we could hear the beatings, but we were not the object. >> you're considered high-value prisoners. did you think that protected you ? >> initially, yes. we realized in the beginning -- i was afraid we would be beaten, i was afraid i would be raped. i had heard stories of women being raped in iranian prisons. we realize we were too valuable, that we were indeed an investment for the iranian

government, that they wanted to look strong and defiant, but eventually they did cruel and itook rul would eventually let us go into not want us to be harmed. >> we use that to our advantage, knowing we were valuable. subject toweren't the same things that a lot of iranian prisoners are subjected to. we were pretty sure we weren't going to be physically tortured. in a sense, we had some power knowing we could push for better conditions. if we went on hunger strike, they would worry because they did not want us to come out harmed, looking like we had been tortured. >> solitary confinement is psychological torture. i was in solitary confinement for 410 days. the u.n. says anything over 15 days can cause permanent and lasting damage and constitute

torture. there has been scientific studies that say after two or three days, your brain waves start to shift toward stupor or delirium. it reduces you to almost an animal state. i spent hours crouched by the small food slot in my door listening for sounds, pacing compulsively eating my food with my hands. there were times i screamed and beta the walls of my cell. what people need to understand, this doesn't only happen in places like iran or guantanamo. this is a widespread practice in our own country. we have 80,000 people in solitary confinement, many for years and some for decades. these are not the most violent prisoners. some have done violent things. many are in for arbitrary reasons. there's no oversight. pity prison infractions. >> describe what happened the day you thought your hearing someone screaming. somes, that -- there were

-- that was the worst breakdown i've ever experienced. i lost a sense of who i was. screaming and all i could think was, i want it to stop. it sounded far away. then the doors of my cell burst open and one of the guards came in and started shaking me. and i look at her, and through her eyes, i could see myself and i realized i had been screaming. i had been beating at the walls. >> and they were streaked with blood. >> yes, my knuckles were bloody. a dramatic moment. the majority of time in solitary confinement is spent pacing, trying to stop repetitive thoughts that just play again and again, trying to calm your fears and phobias and a focus on reading a book. when i eventually got books, i would have days were i would read the same pages over and over again and understand nothing, and get so frustrated i

would throw it at the wall. >> talk about the meetings you would have in the courtyard. or one moment of coming out of solitary confinement. what was it called? air.t means eating eai the whole life was oriented around those visits. i would say my entire day counting down the minutes with an activity to fill every hour, every minute until it happened. as it got closer and closer, i would get more nervous and agitated and always afraid somehow it would not happen. let your guard down. you are hypervigilant. there would be days because of the weather or random reasons they would refuse it. i would start pacing my cell and wringing my hands together, crying sometimes. it was because i was anticipating the one release i had. we made the most of that time. >> how long would you have? >> it changed.

in the beginning was only half an hour a week that it was half an hour a day and then one hour day at the end, two hours a day. specifically, the u.n. i have to thank for that. the special rapporteur on told about my case and officially solitary feinman is two to 23 hours alone a day. in the end, they tried to get me out of solitary confinement. according to the u.n., 22 hours a day is solitary confinement. that time was often difficult for me to come out of my numbness and connect with them. it was hard to make eye contact. sometimes i just wanted to stay in my own little shell, my own little box. shane and josh would draw me out and make me laugh. mitchelit brought me back from the edge of insanity countless

times. >> before it was josh and shane in one cell and you for that long haul in solitary confinement, when you work side-by-side, you actually managed to get out of your cell one night. explain. that ie was one night think one of the guards was sick for so the section we were held in, there's only one guard. they were female guards and a section and they put me in the one next to sarah and the female part of the prison. the men would always come up and bring me food. one night, they left open the little door for the little window in my cell. i reached down and the key was in the door and i could open it. later that night, i opened the door and kind of peeked out. they were still out there. there was a vent between our cells.

jokingly i said, what would you say if i said i could sneak into your cell through this vent? >> she said, i would tell you to do it immediately. i said, ok, i'm going to do it. i was serious. she was kind of like, wait a second. i don't know if you should do this. but we waited until late into the night when the guards were sleeping and i snuck into her cell. >> of course it was amazing -- we've been talking to a vent the majority of days for weeks and weeks and had not seen each other. it was wonderful to be able to touch and have physical intimacy. it also being able to get around the restrictions imposed on you as a prisoner -- all prisoners do this. you will spend every waking moment coming up with a plan on how to beat them, how to get around their insane, horrible control. that is how you resist. that is how you stay sane and stop from becoming institutes -- institutionalized.

>> when you both went back to your rooms and found your wearing each other's pants -- [laughter] what did that mean to you, that moment, since you are feeling so isolated, alienated from your ownselves, let alone each other, to be able to get together like that? >> it meant they could not break us. .hey could never tear us apart that no matter how long it was until we saw each other again, until we were able to touch like break thatng could bond between us. >> sarah, talk about the moment when one day you saw shane, but you did not see josh. at first you were alarmed. >> yeah, as much as i knew it was good for shane and i to have time alone together, the three of us were a unit. the number echo bull team. -- a number echo bull team.

i was conflicted about whether or not shane and i should have alone time because i wanted josh there. i was worried something had gone wrong. it definitely caught me off guard. it was an unusual place to be proposed to, but shane is not a usual guy. >> talk about what you did, shane. >> well, i decided while in solitary, actually, that i wanted to marry sarah. we've have been together for a few years. after she was taken away from me, it was clear to me i wanted to be with her for the rest of my life. i thought i would do it when we got out of prison. it wasn't an ideal place for wedding proposal. the we started getting a sense that sarah would be released before us and i did not know when i would see her again. i made a ring in my cell out of thread. one of many examples of using what we had to get by. i did not tell josh what i was

doing. i did not know if i would go through with it. what are was in prison or not. [laughter] i went outside and gave her the thread ring and asked her if she would marry me. >> they gave us something to hang onto. they gave us one guarantee that we would have a life together. when you have absolutely no certainty and everything has been taken from you, it means a lot. >> we're talking to josh fattal, shane bauer, and sarah shourd just written a book about their experience in an iranian prison. their experience in solitary confinement. it is called, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." sarah, can you read your selection from the book? >> sure. "i decide to ring for the guard and asked for my nightly shower. i'm busy, she says.

"he pantomime, performing like a monkey, smelling my armpits and cramping my nose. enough, sarah, quickly. tell and charged for the showers. i slammed the bathroom door behind you and quickly began undressing. i crank the hot water not as hard as it will go to misdemeanor up the room like a sauna. suddenly, here the door open and a small room next to the showers. i hear voices, then the door shuts. is someone out there? a barred window is usually kept unlocked. i quietly unlatch it, peering into the small courtyard. the young woman stares back at me. think fast, to myself. it has been several months as one of the guards has made such a slip. i grab the bars, bringing my face as close to hers as i can. i began to speak. i, sarah, american. long time here, no freedom. i whisper in my ridiculous infantile farsi. please phone mother sarah. sarah.

sarah love people. sarah teacher, damascus. please, use freedom, phone mother, sarah. ok? the woman looks at me. she says, i know you, sarah. i'm sorry, but i am not free and i cannot help you. >> talk about who she was. >> i actually never saw this woman again. it was one of dozens of interactions i had with other political prisoners. and muchhem were brief more brief than this. they would shout, i love you, down the hall or say, just wait and you will be free. or give me information about my mother and news from the outside. one of the most profound and lasting interactions i had was with a woman who was dutch-iranian, a dual citizen. she was arrested during a protest, which was following the huge protests for human rights and democracy that exploded in

iran in 2009. shortly before we were captured. it was over, the green movement, but the protests were huge and very intense. there was a lot of violence and repression. people died in the streets. a prison filled with new people. she was one of them. in the beginning, she would just call out to me and i heard her crying, but i had already been caught talking to other women and i was terrified to be caught again. i tried to block it out. one day i was sitting in the corner of my cell trying to read a book and i heard a voice. i heard someone was per, sarah -- whisper, sarah. i did not know if it was real. i looked around me and there was no one there. i heard it again whispering, sarah. i realize there was a vent about my sink and a remember how shane and i used to talk through the event. i jumped on the singer was able to talk to this woman.

she told me she had not been allowed to see her in the sea, that shia been beaten and tortured and she was barely able to stand. she said that she saw my mother on bbc and my mother was fighting for me and the world was fighting for me. barged moment, the guard in and caught us. she was transferred. i never thought i would see her again. months later, she came back and we were actually able to devise a clandestine way of to medicating through letters. we would hide them in the bathroom trash. we devised a small pen from a piece ofmetal like a pencil. she mostly just said, iranians don't hate americans. i love you. we should meet in the netherlands. we will dance and become best friends. the incredible thing about her and so many of the women there was they taught me how to be a political prisoner. but they never charged her with a political crime. they only charged her with a

drug crime. she was executed months after my release. >> you mention your mother's. i want to play clip from a 2010. this is after you were allowed, all of you, to meet with your mothers. >> is really difficult being alone. shane and josh are in the room together, but i am alone. that is the most difficult thing for me. i see them twice a day. we have good food and medical care. materials.ding that iran can continue with its good gesture by releasing us on humanitarian grounds. >> there you are, shane and sarah, with your mother.

talk about that moment for both of you. >> as amazing as i felt to be with our mothers, it also felt like a cruel gift. they were essentially using us to show -- put us in front of the cameras and show they were treating us well by allowing our mothers to come and visit. of course we were not going to turn anything like that down. >> i want to go to all of your mother's coming into the studio here in new york soon after they saw you in iran. first, you will hear from sarah 's mother. >> my main goal to go there was to fill them with hope. let them know what is happening here. and bring them home -- which we did not get to do. >> nora, can you describe seeing your children? where were you? >> we were not allowed to go to the prison. we were in a hotel in tehran

which i think was close to the prison. the kids were brought there. they did not know we were there. ,hen they walked in this room -- i'm sorry. they were completely shocked to see us. it was overwhelmingly emotional. for hours we did not want to let go of these kids. we could not stop crying. it was very difficult every time we think of the images again. i can only speak for myself. it is very hard to forget what we went through. >> this has been going on since october. we have heard the words as the nausea and prisoner swap -- espionage and prisoner swap as october. the kids were taken the last day of july. it is not news. it arrives and disappears and comes forward and disappears. nothing has come of it. >> that was laura fattal and cindy hickeynd

just after they had returned from iran. i want to jump forward to when you are released. how did you ultimately get out, sarah? >> i have a terminus amount of credit to get to our families give tremendous amount of credit to our friends and families. our story so easily could've fed into the animosity between the governments. the total breakdown in diplomacy was the reason we were being held in the first place. our families upended that narrative. again and again they made it clear that iran is no enemy to us, nor is iran an enemy to the mac and people. my mother devised a brilliant strategy with the support of everyone else to really push my health issues. after that visit, she knew i had no health problems. the iranian government knew i had no health problems. i had concerns that were never addressed, but my mother knew she could use that as a way for the iranian government to save face, for them to let me out without looking weak or looking

like they're giving in to u.s. pressure. what you're really getting into was international pressure. >> let's go to that moment in 2010, shortly after your release from prison in iran. this is one of your first statements to the media am a sarah. >> i know how much effort has gone into this, and i'm extremely grateful. i feel myself i have a huge debt to repay the world for what it is done for me. my first priority is tell my fiancée shane bauer and my friend josh fattal to gain their freedom, because they don't deserve to be in prison anymore. >> there you are near the airport as you are about to leave and saying openly that you would not feel free until shane and josh were free. talk about your organizing over the next year and what people did, and the countries involved in your release. >> the only way i could in any way justify being free -- i did not want to leave without them. i hated every minute of it.

but the only way i could justify it is that i knew i could make a difference, that i believed i could make a difference and get them out sooner. i worked closely with the government. later i was able to list both the iraqi government and the venezuelan government, which are both amazing stories in and of themselves. >> tell us quickly. oman was so pivotal to your release as well as shane and josh. >> oman was involved from the beginning. >> why? >> they play an important role as mediators on many issues between u.s. and iran, in the middle east. they knew this was not going to be good for either country. oman has been very involved in the nuclear deals with the temporary agreement between u.s. and iran. >> jubilee this negotiation pave the way for the current negotiation? >> we know the same envoy that advocated for us and paid our bail and worked on our behalf for years, he arranged

high-level meetings between u.s. officials on a whiny soil and those eating started a platform to talk about our case. they open doors for the nuclear negotiations. >> how much was paid for your release? >> half $1 million for each of us. >> i want to go to josh and shane in 2011 addressing reporters in new york. it was quite amazing to see the three of you there. these are your first comments since being released. >> it was clear to us from the very beginning we were hostages. hostage is the most accurate term because despite certain knowledge of our innocence, the iranian government has tied our case to its political disputes with the u.s.. thank you. >> we will always regret the

grief and anxiety our hiking trip led to, most of all, our families. we would like to be very clear. this was never about crossing the unmarked border between iran and iraq. we were held because of our nationality. >> the scene of you before that at the airport in oman when you greeted your families and sarah and shane, you're together again after a year. [cheers] >> it was like being shot out of a cannon. the doors open and we ran down the stairs. just to see the people that we had thought about every day there, to see sarah there looking so strong. she looked like a free woman. the last time i saw her, she looked like a prisoner. it was just amazing to be there, to embrace them, to breathe fresh air.

it was the best day of my life. >> shane bauer, sarah shourd and josh fattal, their book, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." when we come back, they talk about what they have dedicated their lives to since their release from prison. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today we're spending the hour with shane bauer, sarah shourd and josh fattal, the authors of their new book, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." the focus ofabout their work since their release. i began by asking shane. prison, it did not feel over. i thought about the people i was in prison with. i thought about prisoners around the world. me this arte to looking into prisons in this country. we're the largest prison population in the world. we have 80,000 people in solitary confinement. we have some that have been in for decades.

i thinkt of our society those unseen. as a former prisoner, i had a very different perspective on it. it was something that was always at the top of my mind. >> blaster, more than 12,000 prisoners in california went on a hunger strike in a pushed into long-term solitary confinement. shane, you went to pelican bay and took a tour of the facility for mother jones magazine. this is a clip from the video that accompanied his report when officials gave them a tour of one of the 11 by seven foot solitary confinement cells and the secured housing unit. >> why don't they have windows? >> i don't know. i can explain that. >> a food tray will be passed through the cell. >> prisoners have to strip naked, have their hands through a food window to be handcuffed,

the way for the door to be opened. and get some exercise. there's more room to run. >> they only get an hour in the concrete dog run every day. >> how did it feel to return to solitary confinement, if only to take a tour through in the u.s.? >> when i walked into the cell, i was shocked. i was shocked that there was no window in the cell. the smallest things in solitary confinement are the world. and not having no direct sunlight for years on end was just mind blowing to me. you have to remember, some of the people that are in these cells did not necessarily commit acts of violence. some are there because they had a picture with somebody who was a gang associate or somebody who had drawings, or even one person i knew had spent years in the shu had a journal where he had

written bits of african-american history, the number of hangings of african-americans in a given time period. this was considered gang natural. mumia abu jamal.a balter mall in some ways, these conditions were worse than what i've been through and iran. it was shocking to me. it was really shocking to step into that. >> sarah, you're now working with solitary watch. explain what it is. that is an organization bringing stories of people and for long solitary confinement in our country out for the public to look at. >> i want to play a clip from "opening the box," urges a play you're writing about based on the real story of people -- which is a play you're writing .bout based on real people

>> the first time i did 18 months in the whole, i saw only three or four colors. i saw only concrete and steel. >> the painful memory felt like the weeds until finally the weeds choke to death everything else. you're left with a cold wasteland of weeds, flint stone and dusty soil. >> that is a clip about the play you're doing "opening the box." >> was solitary watch, i have already gathered over 75 world testimonies and read testimonies through in-depth letter correspondence with prisoners in solitary confinement over the country. or me, this has been a very important part of my own -- making sense of my own experience. when i first got out of prison, i felt extremely alone. one of the worst things a posttraumatic stress is there was no one around me that understood what i had gone through. , inon, for some people

certain communities and our country, is a shocking, rare event, particularly in mostly white communities or affluent to entities. it our country as a whole, is not uncommon. one and 100 people in our country will go to prison and some time in their lives. our present society is hearing stories from other people that expenses same kind of torture really helped me. >> shane bauer, how does guantanamo fit into the picture? >> we were held, josh and i were held in two years without trial. there were times in prison when i was in solitary confinement i asked my guards, you know, why am i in solitary? why won't you let me out? one guard said, what about guantanamo? i said, when can we go to trial? well, how long have bee

people been held in guantanamo without trial? we heard prisoners getting beaten. josh and i pounded on the doors and the guards would come running. we learn the way to get them was to say, what is this, guantanamo? there were so insulted by that. in their minds, being compared to this prison to them was the worst prison possible was an insult and it would actually stop beating people. i think it is simple. i was held for two years without trial. there was no evidence against me. i think very few people in our society would think that is justified. we believe in trial by jury in this country. apply that everywhere. it should be applied all over the world, including a guantanamo bay where people have been held for years, some over 10 years, without trial. >> josh fattal, could you read your selection from your book?

this is while i was in solitary confinement. "a tall well-built guard charges down the hallway. he clashes a few feet from my door with a prisoner. i hear a single smack. i rushed to the door to listen as i cringe at the cruelty of this place. the prisoner release is yell. the drizzle turns to thunder. i hear each blow as they rain down on him just a few from where i stand. he screams as if impaled by stakes. the whole prison must be able to hear him. nearby, an inmate hangs on his door in solidarity. all must immediately, i chime in along with everyone else. all of us banging on our doors to protest the meeting. contagious. is this inseparability and has my blood rushing. this is our moment of power. our moment of instantaneous and blind solidarity.

the guards can't stop us. they can't shut us up for that they run frantically up and down the halls trying. they seemed scared and uncertain. in a motion usually only felt by prisoners. we continue banging and yelling after the bidding stops. the belligerent guard bursts into my cell, fire raging in his eyes. his fist clenched by his side. he is the one who is than the beating and his wound up like a bulldog on a leash. i take a few steps away from the door. he charges forward fuming. die, i feeleast i calmer, more alive than i have for weeks. i don't want to fight, i yell at him. even though i know he doesn't understand english. he stares at me, deciding my fate. he backpedals out of my cell as it yanked by a leash. by late afternoon, the sounds are long gone. the fight unleashes a violence that always simmers just below the surface in prison. to the courtyard, i see the bulldog guard with his

arms crossed and head bowed. he is now a contrite puppy. he raises his head slowly and takes hold of my arm. he enunciates slowly as if he has rehearsed the english apology. excuse me." >> as you go on the road now with your book, you relive all of this again. how do you cope with it? know, it doesn't fully leave me. nuclearently with the negotiations going on, i've been thinking about it. it is important to me that these countries can come together and thathis mutual hostility ended up stealing two years of my life. >> i know you have to leave to move on with a book tour as you travel the country were talking about both your own experiences in solitary confinement in general, but i want to end where

you began, and that is with the title of the book, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." why did you choose the title? >> i think there's a different reason. one is the literal interpretation, when we are in our cells, especially before we have any way of noting time when we are in solitary confinement. the way sure -- the way we measure the passing of the day was the light that would pass through our window. since we have named the book this, whenever i mention it to somebody who has been in prison, immediately they know what it means. were were cells where they -- there were marks on the wall with numbers on them that would mark the time of day. for me, sometimes it was the time -- by this corner, this might be when the interrogator comes. by this corner, dinnertime. that is what carried us through. booke importance of our

for my for me personally, is it is a story of the horror of losing your freedom and the miracle of getting it back. but it is not just about our story, it is also about all of the people that we had to leave behind, the people that helped us in prison and the people in our own country that don't have that sliver of light, that don't have the hope of getting out. >> sarah shourd, shane bauer, and josh fattal tell their story in their new book released today, "a sliver of light: three americans imprisoned in iran." you can read an excerpt of the book on our website democracynow.org. we'll also have a link to all of our coverage of the hikers over the years at democracynow.org. they're speaking tonight at barnes & noble on the upper west side of manhattan and in philadelphia. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who apprec