Mom Calls Hiker Children's Iran Detention 'Ridiculous' and 'Unnecessary'

July 30, 2010 — -- The mothers of the three U.S. hikers who have been detained in Iran for a year are calling on Iranian authorities to release their children immediately, asking supporters to join them at a protest vigil this afternoon next to Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York.

"We think one year is more than enough," Laura Fattal, the mother of hiker Josh Fattal, said on "Good Morning America" today. "This is a ridiculous, outrageous, unethical, unnecessary detention."

Josh Fattal, 28, Shane Bauer, 28, and Sarah Shourd, 31, were detained along the border separating Iraq and Iran July 31, 2009, and accused of spying.

No formal charges have been leveled against the group and their parents have maintained that even if the three did cross into Iran, they did so by accident.

After months of protesting the Iranian government, pressuring the U.S. State Department and appealing to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad directly, the mothers were granted an emotional reunion with the hikers in Tehran in May.

Fattal, 58, of Elkins Park, Pa., Nora Shourd, 61, of Oakland Calif., and Cindy Hickey, 50, of Pine City, Minn., said on "GMA" that they haven't had any news of their children since they returned from the visit.

That's especially troubling for Shourd because, she said, her daughter has medical issues.

"Sarah's been in solitary confinement for a year now, or nearly a year, which, as a mother, is very difficult for me to think of on a daily basis," she said. "It's all I can think of. She has medical problems which are not being addressed. They're being neglected.

"She hasn't really been seen the way she should be seen … and they're ignoring this. We need to get these kids out so they can be taken care of and have their needs met."