From Political Hostage to Prisoner Rights Advocate

From 2009 to 2010 Sarah Shourd was held as a political hostage by the Iranian government, captured with her two friends while hiking in semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and imprisoned—without due process or any evidence shown against her—for 410 days of solitary, incommunicado detention. In this talk Shourd will tell stories of resistance, survival and political intrigue: from clandestine encounters with other prisoners, to the visit their mothers were granted to Tehran, her appearance on Oprah days after her “compassionate” release and subsequent meetings with figures such as Hilary Clinton, President Obama, Actor Sean Penn, Boxer Muhammad Ali and President Ahmadinejad himself. Since her ordeal, Sarah has gone on to co-author a memoir, A Sliver of Light: Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran, and to speak out about a wide range of human and prisoner rights issues, focusing on the widespread use of prolonged solitary confinement in US prisons.