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The mothers of three American hikers detained in Iran are heading to Tehran today to appeal for the release of their children. The mothers are asking for compassion from the Iranian government. The World’s Jason Margolis reports on the role of governments — both American and Iranian — in cases like this.

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MARCO WERMAN:  The mothers of those three American hikers detained in Iran are attempting a charm offensive of their own.  They’re heading to Tehran to appeal for the release of their children.  The three were arrested along the Iran/Iraq border.  They’ve been jailed in Iran since last July and have yet to be brought to trial or charged with a crime.  The mothers are asking the U.S. government to help secure the release of their children, but what is the role of governments in securing the release of civilians detained in dangerous places?  The World’s Jason Margolis has more.

JASON MARGOLIS:  Last year the French government talked about drawing a line in the sand.  The French foreign minister drafted a law that said hostage victims who ignore official advice and stray into dangerous place, they’ll have to pay the bill for protecting their well being or for being rescued.  The proposed French law raises a question.  If travelers know that a government won’t come to their rescue, or at least that they’ll have to pay for it, will this minimize risk taking behavior?  Jack Matlock, former U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union says probably not.

JACK MATLOCK:  The people who wandered into North Korea, they were warned locally, not only by officials, they still went anyway.

MARGOLIS: Matlock is referring to two journalists who were captured last year by North Korea.  They were released after feverish diplomacy and a visit by former President Bill Clinton.  Gary Sick, a professor of Middle East Politics at Columbia University says when U.S. citizens are taken, even if they are at fault, the government has to respond.

GARY SICK:  It’s very hard for a government to say oh I’m sorry, they made a mistake, they happen to be citizens of our, but you know we’re not going to bother with it.  It’s easy to say something like that perhaps; it’s very hard to do for a political party or political foreign administration.

MARGOLIS: With regards to the hikers held in Iran, Jack Matlock says the question is not whether the U.S. government is obliged to do something.  The better question is what can the government do?

MATLOCK:  Not only do we have no official relations, but our political relations are very difficult.  The ability of the government to help is going to be extremely limited, and maybe even counter-productive.

MARGOLIS: That’s because hostages often become political footballs.  That’s already happening with the three hikers in Iran, says Gary Sick.  Several Iranians have been extradited to the United States where they’re being held.  Now Iran is saying you’ve got some of our citizens, we’ve got some of yours.

SICK:  And it was pretty clear that they were saying if you want to swap, okay let’s do that.  But it hasn’t happened yet and I don’t know whether it will.

MARGOLIS: The story of the detained hikers is of course not just about politics and strained diplomatic relations; there’s a human element.  Cindy Hickey is the mother of one of the captured hikers, 27-year-old freelance journalist Shane Bauer.

CINDY HICKEY:  I spoke to my son in March when he called and that phone call lasted for a minute.  It began with Mom this is Shane, I love you, I miss you, I’m strong how are you?  I answered him saying I love you and I miss you and I’m very strong and determined and that won’t end until you get home.

MARGOLIS: Hickey says her son simply went hiking with some friends.  She says she doesn’t know much about what the two governments are doing to secure her son’s release.

HICKEY:  We really ask that the two governments set aside the politics and work from their hearts and release our children.

MARGOLIS: The State Department is working for the release of the three American hikers.  It has never suggested that the families will have to pay for its diplomatic efforts.  For The World, I’m Jason Margolis.

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