Elderly Brit couple held by Taliban ‘may die in Afghan prison' as mum is ‘numb' & dad ‘chained up in basement shaking'
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife
Barbie
, 76, were
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5
Peter and Barbie Reynolds were scooped up in February and thrown into a brutal prison
Credit: Supplied
5
The couple moved to Afghanistan in 2009, where they run training project
The parents-of-four had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years managing training projects - but were kidnapped on February 1 with no explanation.
They were locked up separately at the maximum security Pul-e-Charkhi in Kabul, and later moved to an underground cell beneath the Taliban's intelligence HQ.
Speaking to the
According to UN experts, Peter needs heart medication and, during his detention, has had two eye infections and convulsions in his head and down his left arm.
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more on the couple
He recently collapsed, the experts added, while Barbie suffers from anaemia and remains weak.
Jonathan said: "My dad's
health
is deteriorating fast.
"Now he's maybe got something like early Parkinson's - tremors and shakes down the right side of his body, his arms and face."
Peter had a
mini
stroke
in 2023, and is thought to have suffered another one or a silent heart attack while being held prisoner.
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Barbie, meanwhile, is struggling with dizzy spells and numbness linked to anaemia - which can be caused by a lack of sunlight.
"She has blue hands and feet to do with anaemia, malnutrition, just not getting the right healthcare," Jonathan added.
I lived with Taliban for year secretly filming bloodthirsty terrorists' horror secrets… then orders were sent to kill me
Alice Edwards, the UN's special rapporteur on torture, said: 'We see no reason why this elderly couple should be detained at all, and have requested an immediate
review
of the grounds of their detention.
'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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In April, Peter described the excruciating conditions as "the nearest thing to hell".
In a phone recording heard by The Sunday Times, he said: 'I've been joined up with rapists and murderers by handcuffs and ankle cuffs, including a man who killed his wife and three children, shouting away, a demon-possessed man.'
He continued: "The atmosphere is pretty shocking. I am learning a lot about the underbelly of Afghanistan.
"The prison guards shout all the time and beat people with a piece of piping.
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"It's a horrible atmosphere — the nearest thing to hell I can imagine."
The Taliban's Foreign Minister
Amir Khan
Muttaqi rejected concerns about rights violations.
5
Faye Hall, the couple's interprator, was arrested with them but later released
Credit: AP
5
Hall was received at the Qatari embassy in Kabul and confirmed to be in good health
Credit: Reuters
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He said: They are in constant contact with their families [and] consular services are available.
"Efforts are underway to secure their release. These
steps
have not yet been completed. Their
human rights
are being respected.
"They are being given full access to treatment, contact and accommodation."
He did not say what steps were being taken to secure their release.
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The Reynolds were some of the only foreigners not to leave Afghanistan when the Taliban seized back
power
four years ago.
They had been living peaceful lives in the mountainous region of Bamain - famous for the giant Buddha statues blown up by the previous Taliban regime.
Their family said they had never encountered any trouble from the regime since settling there in 2009.
Last week was the pair's 55th wedding anniversary.
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Barbie told a Foreign Office official this week: 'We have been told we are guests of the government but this is no way to treat a guest."
Peter and Barbie were arrested on February 1 along with their interpreter, Jaya, and a visiting Chinese-American friend, Faye Hall.
The group was detained after flying in a small plane from Kabul to an airstrip near their home in the central province of Bamiyan.
They bundled into vans and taken to separate parts of maximum-security Pul-e-Charki.
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On May 22 the couple were moved to the headquarters of the GDI — the General Directorate of Intelligence — and put in an underground cell.
Although the couple are now together, they have had almost no access to phones since being moved.
The last time their four children spoke to them was over a month ago.
It was initially thought they had been
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The Taliban later bizarrely claimed the arrest was
Hall, their interpretor,
5
The couple, aged 80 and 76, have received no explanation for their imprisonment
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