The International Press Institute is urging North Korea to release two U.S. journalists it has been detaining for nearly two months.

The institute’s director, David Dadge, said in a statement Friday that North Korea should avoid any political theatrics and release Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who, according to Dadge, are innocent victims of North Korea's desire to gain political leverage in its ongoing negotiations with the United States.

Dadge then said that any charging of journalists with espionage is a drastic move by authoritarian leaders to hide the truth, adding that journalists are neutral observers whose only purpose is to gather information.

The two women are journalists for San Francisco-based Current TV. They were detained by North Korea on March 17th near the Chinese-North Korean border while filming a documentary on North Korean escapees.