Human rights activists warn that a British couple who are detained in Afghanistan may die if they continue to be at their best.
Barbie and Peter Reynolds, 75 and 80, live in Afghanistan but were captured by the Taliban in February and have been in custody of terrorist groups since then.
UN experts said in a statement Monday that they saw that “the older couple should not be detained at all” and asked for an urgent review of their detention conditions, adding that “inhumanity allowed them to be locked in such degraded conditions.”
“Our first need is that they immediately transfer to civil hospitals for medical treatment,” said the UN Special Rapporteur for Alice Jill Jill Edwards’ torture.
According to the panel, the couple was held in the highest security prison in underground cells and had no access to sunlight until they were transferred to the above-ground block last week.
They added that until eight weeks ago, they were separated and held.
Experts also determined that the couple’s physical and mental health “deteriorated rapidly” and that “if there is no adequate medical care, they are at risk of irreparable harm or even death.”
Peter has recently collapsed, suffered two eye infections, and has suffered tremors in his head and left arm since he was imprisoned.
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Experts say he needs heart disease treatment since he suffered a brief ischemic attack in 2023.
A brief ischemic attack is a short-term symptom similar to a stroke. While it won’t tend to cause long-term damage, one-third of people experiencing such health problems have suffered a stroke within a year, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Apart from these “serious concerns” about Peter’s well-being, his children say he is prone to skin cancer, which requires immediate medical care.
Barbie suffers from anemia, a disease that means her body produces low amounts of red blood cells, which may also have the ability to have low oxygen. Christina Giorgio, a nurse in Toronto, said this could lead to various health conditions, the most common fatigue and dizziness.
The Guardian reported that the Barbie doll was weak and her feet became numb due to poor diet.
The United Nations Organization said Renault had deprived his freedom and was detained under life-threatening conditions without access to appropriate legal counsel or medical services and limited family contact.
It wrote: “It has caused psychological harm to their health due to the lack of knowing why they were imprisoned or when they were released.”
The couple has been married for 55 years and has four children living in the UK and the US
Their children plead to the Taliban on Sunday, which took control of Afghanistan in 2021 after withdrawing the U.S. military after 20 years in the region to free parents.
“This is another urgent call from the Taliban, it’s too late to die in their detention,” they said in a statement.
“In the past 18 years, they have dedicated their lives to the Afghan people.”
The Guardian said that just a week ago, the British Foreign Office visited the couple to check their welfare. Last week, the children said in notes to the Taliban that they hadn’t spoken to their parents for five weeks.
The couple was taken from their home with another foreigner and an Afghanistan on February 1 in the Nayak region of central Bamiyan province.
Their four adult children have been running for the release of their parents, he said, the couple operates reconstruction consultants, which provides training and education to government agencies, educational organizations, businesses and NGOs in Afghanistan.
The Sunday Times, which first reported the story, said a project was for mothers and children. The Taliban severely restricted women’s education and activities.
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