Protests mark hikers' year in Iranian jail

TEHRAN, July 30 (UPI) -- Protests against Iran's detention of three U.S. hikers -- starting Friday at Iran's U.N. Mission in New York -- are planned around the world, organizers said.

"Free the Hikers," an organization formed by the captives' families, said the protest at the Iranian mission was kicking off global events designed to "send Iran a message," CNN reported.

The hikers -- Josh Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer -- were arrested July 31, 2009, after they allegedly strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq. Iran has accused the three of spying and their parents said they were just on a recreational hike.

"The (protest at the Iranian mission) is going to kick off a weekend of action. We have events in cities from India to Spain and all throughout the U.S. It's really a global issue," Josh Fattal's brother, Alex Fattal, told CNN.

In May, the hikers' mothers met with their children in Iran.

Shourd has a pre-cancerous condition needing constant monitoring, Fattal said, adding that her health records haven't been made available to her family.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on Iran to release the hikers for humanitarian reasons, CNN said.

Amnesty International also urged Iran to release the hikers.

"One year on from their arrest it appears clear that the Iranian authorities do not have substantial grounds to prosecute these three individuals, and we fear that they may be held on account of their nationality," Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa program, said Friday in a release. "If so, they should be released immediately and allowed to leave Iran."

If they aren't released, "they must be charged with recognizably criminal offenses and be tried according to international standards for a fair trial," Smart said.