Kylie Moore-Gilbert

My interest started as curiosity about how Moore-Gilbert managed to stay sane through it all. Decades ago I read Brian Keenan's An Evil Cradling, (1991), his account of his four years as a hostage in Beirut, and what has stayed with me after all these years is the horror of the situation these men found themselves in; how Keenan's friendship with fellow hostage John McCarthy sustained him; and the remarkable lack of bitterness afterwards. I still remember how I found myself wondering about whether I had the inner resources to cope in such a situation, deprived of everything that I hold dear.

Moore-Gilbert's answer to this is that survival depends on taking control of what can be controlled. Her initial shock, disbelief and horror at being detained in solitary confinement for espionage in Evin Prison gave way to fighting back when she realised that the relentless interrogations and false hopes of release were never going to end. Her cooperation was having no effect. Instead of trying to conceal her emotions, she detached from her 'old self' and expressed her anger and frustrations; she challenged her interrogators over their lies; and she went on hunger strikes to get improvements in her atrocious living conditions and to be allowed access to consular assistance. In a patriarchal society and one where the Revolutionary Guard holds immense power and status, she refused to respect the men who were using her as a pawn in 'hostage diplomacy'.

Moore-Gilbert's case challenges the official Australian government policy of 'quiet diplomacy' in situations like this. She argues that the media coverage and campaign to free her was effective, but since there is silence about what our diplomats did behind the scenes, it's hard to know what works best in an invidious situation. After all, there is probably no 'best way' to deal with regimes that have no respect for human rights and sanction the abuse of power by men who are fundamentally unreasonable. Each case is unique.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2022/04/13/the-uncaged-sky-my-804-days-in-an-iranian-pr...… (plus d'informations)