KABUL – United Nations human rights experts have called for the immediate release of Peter and Barbie Reynolds, two elderly British nationals detained by the Taliban since February, warning that their health is rapidly deteriorating and they face the risk of “irreparable harm or even death” without urgent medical care.
The couple, aged 80 and 75, have been held for more than five months without charges. According to the experts, they spent several months in a maximum-security facility before being moved to underground cells without sunlight, and only last week were transferred to above-ground cells at the General Directorate of Intelligence in Kabul.
“Peter and Barbie Reynolds have been held for over five months… Their physical and mental health is deteriorating rapidly. Without access to adequate medical care, they are at risk of irreparable harm or even death,” the experts said in a joint statement.
The UN experts stressed that their “first demand is their immediate transfer to a civilian hospital for medical treatment.”
They revealed that Peter Reynolds, who suffered a transient ischemic attack in 2023, urgently needs heart medication and has developed two eye infections during his detention, as well as intermittent tremors in his head and down his left arm. He recently collapsed.
Barbie Reynolds suffers from anemia and remains “weak and frail,” likely due to months of poor food quality and quantity, and has reported numbness in her feet.
The couple has lived in Afghanistan for the past 18 years, running a research and training business that provided services to various organizations.
UN experts said they have been deprived of liberty “in very difficult conditions without proper legal proceedings” and see “no reason why this older couple should be detained at all.”
The statement described their detention as “inhumane and degrading” and raised concerns over their lack of access to legal assistance and adequate medical care, noting that they have only had very limited telephone contact with family.
“We remind the Taliban that all persons deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity, and that conditions and locations of detention must take into account their age and health circumstances,” the experts said. “The psychological toll on their health from not knowing why they are being held or when they are to be released is cruel treatment.”
The UN experts have formally raised the case with the Taliban and the British government, and said they will continue to monitor the situation.
