UN experts urge Taliban to release elderly British couple in Afghanistan
Peter Reynolds, 80 and his wife Barbie, 75, have been 'arbitrarily detained in Afghanistan without charges' since February, the five independent United Nations experts said.
The two, who married in Kabul in 1970 and have lived continuously in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, 'have been held for over five months, including in a maximum-security facility for several months and later in underground cells, without sunlight', the experts said.
'Their physical and mental health is deteriorating rapidly,' they said, warning that 'without access to adequate medical care, they are at risk of irreparable harm or even death.'
The experts, including the UN special rapporteurs on torture, on the rights of older people and on the rights situation in Afghanistan, pointed out that Peter Reynolds needs heart medication after suffering a mini-stroke two years ago.
He has also suffered two eye infections, has had intermittent tremors in his head and down his left arm, and recently collapsed, while his wife Barbie suffers from anemia, is weak and frail and has reported that her feet have become numb, they said.
'Our first demand is their immediate transfer to a civilian hospital for medical treatment,' said the experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
The Reynolds, who have run school training programs in Afghanistan country for 18 years, were detained with visiting Chinese-American friend Faye Hall and their Afghan translator, as they travelled to their home in central Bamiyan province.
Hall, a US citizen, was released at the end of March not long after a rare visit by US officials to Kabul and the removal of millions of dollars of bounties on multiple Taliban leaders.
But the Reynolds remain in detention.
'We see no reason why this older couple should be detained at all and have requested an immediate review of the grounds of their detention,' the experts said.
'It is inhumane to keep them locked up in such degrading conditions and more worrying when their health is so fragile.'
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