Sarah Shourd

{{Main|2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran}}

In July 2009, Shourd was on a weekend trip with her then-boyfriend Shane Bauer and their friend Josh Fattal, who was visiting from the U.S. 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 Ahmad Awa, a popular tourist destination in Iraqi Kurdistan, which was considered an American tourist-friendly destination.{{Cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/iran-hostage-hikers-iraq-prisoners/|title=Kidnapped by Iran: 780 days of isolation, two dozen interrogations, one marriage proposal.|last1=Bauer|first1=Shane|last2=Fattal|first2=Josh|website=Mother Jones|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-18|last3=Shourd|first3=Sarah}} The soldiers accused them of illegally crossing into Iran and arrested them on the spot.{{Cite news|url=http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/held-hostage-in-iran-american-hiker-sarah-shourds-first-interview/all|title=Held Hostage in Iran: American Hiker Sarah Shourd's First Interview|work=Oprah.com|access-date=2020-01-18|language=en-us}} They were driven to Evin Prison, in Tehran, where Shourd spent 410 days in solitary confinement in the political ward. She suffered from extreme depression and anxiety as a result of her time in solitary confinement.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/animal-freed-u-s-hiker-recalls-410-days-iran-prison-n55041|title='Like an Animal': Freed U.S. Hiker Recalls 410 Days in Iran Prison|website=NBC News|date=18 March 2014 |language=en|access-date=2020-01-18}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11299867|title=Freed US female hiker leaves Iran|date=2010-09-14|access-date=2020-01-18|language=en-GB}} 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 three's release.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2010/07/iran-libertad-juzgar-excursionistas-recluidos-un-ano/|title=Iran must release or try US hikers held without charge for a year|website=www.amnesty.org|date=30 July 2010 |language=en|access-date=2020-01-19}}

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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/12/iran-us-hiker-sarah-shourd|title=Iran demands $500,000 to free US hiker Sarah Shourd|last1=Black|first1=Ian|date=2010-09-12|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-18|last2=editor|first2=Middle East|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11299867|title=Freed US female hiker leaves Iran|date=2010-09-14|access-date=2020-01-18|language=en-GB}} She was finally released in September 2010, after a deal was brokered by the Swiss embassy that represents the US interests in Iran (the U.S. and Iran have not had diplomatic ties since 1979.){{Cite news |last1=Black |first1=Ian |date=2010-09-14 |title=Iran frees US hiker Sarah Shourd after detaining her on spy charges |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/14/iran-frees-sarah-shourd-hiker |access-date=2020-01-18 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} After her release, Shourd stated that she was released because she was a woman and in solitary confinement, not because of her health condition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/sarah-shourd-her-imprisonment-iran-69005|title=Sarah Shourd on Her Imprisonment in Iran|last=EST|first=Ramin Setoodeh On 12/23/10 at 8:00 AM|date=2010-12-23|website=Newsweek|language=en|access-date=2020-01-19}} She and her family publicly thanked Oman for playing a crucial role in making arrangements for securing her bail.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2244867-181/american-woman-freed-by-iran|title=American woman freed by Iran is grateful, humbled|date=2010-09-14|website=Santa Rosa Press Democrat|language=en|access-date=2020-01-18}} She also thanked Ali Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad for her release, fearing that an absence of such a statement would prevent the releases of Bauer and Fattal.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/26/sarah-shourd-one-of-the-three-american-hikers-freed-from-prison-in-iran-sounds-off|title=Sarah Shourd, One of the Three American Hikers Freed from Prison in Iran, Sounds Off|last=Shourd|first=Sarah|date=2011-12-26|access-date=2020-01-19|language=en}} She was officially indicted of espionage and illegal entry by Iran.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sarah-shourd-my-suffering-is-not-over/|title=Sarah Shourd: My Suffering Is Not Over|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=24 September 2010 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-18}} Then-President of the United States Barack Obama issued a statement that he was pleased that she was released and was being reunited with her family.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2244867-181/american-woman-freed-by-iran|title=American woman freed by Iran is grateful, humbled|date=2010-09-14|website=Santa Rosa Press Democrat|language=en|access-date=2020-01-19}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://pulitzercenter.org/people/sarah-shourd|title=Sarah Shourd|website=Pulitzer Center|language=en|access-date=2020-01-18}}

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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Shourd was a UC Berkeley Visiting Scholar in 2014.{{Cite web |title=Sarah Shourd |url=https://jsk.stanford.edu/fellows/class-of-2019/sarah-shourd/ |access-date=2020-01-19 |website=John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford}}

Shourd did her Bachelors of Arts in 2001 from University of Berkeley.

Shane Bauer proposed to Shourd while the two were in prison.{{Cite web |last=EST |first=Ramin Setoodeh On 12/23/10 at 8:00 AM |date=2010-12-23 |title=Sarah Shourd on Her Imprisonment in Iran |url=https://www.newsweek.com/sarah-shourd-her-imprisonment-iran-69005 |access-date=2020-01-19 |website=Newsweek |language=en}} They married on May 5, 2012 in California,{{Cite web |author=the CNN Wire Staff |title=U.S. hikers who were held in Iran marry in California |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/us/iran-hikers-married/index.html |access-date=2020-01-19 |website=CNN|date=7 May 2012 }} and subsequently divorced in 2019.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Name

2014 |Mesa Refuge Fellowship{{Cite web|title=Sarah Shourd|url=https://mesarefuge.org/people/sarah-shourd/|access-date=2020-12-10|website=Mesa Refuge|language=en-US}}

2015 |Furthur Foundation Grant{{Cite web|title=2015 Furthur Foundation Grantees|url=http://furthur.org/2015furthurfoundationgrantees/|access-date=2020-12-10|website=Furthur Foundation|language=en-US}}

2013 |Shuttleworth Foundation Grant{{Cite web|title=Flash Grants|url=https://shuttleworthfoundation.org/fellows/flash-grants/|access-date=2020-12-10|website=The Shuttleworth Foundation}}

2016 |Ragdale Residency{{Cite web|date=2017-07-16|title=Sarah Shourd {{!}} Ragdale|url=https://www.ragdale.org/residency/resident/sarah-shourd/|access-date=2020-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716224156/https://www.ragdale.org/residency/resident/sarah-shourd/ |archive-date=2017-07-16 }}

2019 |John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford{{Cite web|title=Sarah Shourd|url=https://jsk.stanford.edu/fellows/class-of-2019/sarah-shourd/|access-date=2020-01-18|website=John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford}}

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.

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{{List of foreign nationals detained in Iran}}

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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:American prison reformers

Category:21st-century American journalists

Category:21st-century American women journalists

Category:American people imprisoned in Iran

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:21st-century American dramatists and playwrights

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:American women dramatists and playwrights