Elderly Brit couple held by Taliban ‘may die in Afghan prison’ as mum is ‘numb’ & dad ‘chained up in basement shaking’
AN ELDERLY Brit couple wrongfully jailed by Taliban may die in prison soon, their children fear.
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, were snatched by Taliban thugs and tossed into Afghanistan’s most notorious prison nearly six months ago.
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 BBC, their son Jonathan Reynolds said their health was rapidly deteriorating.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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 arrested for teaching parenting skills to mothers.
The Taliban later bizarrely claimed the arrest was due to a “misunderstanding” – though did not release them.
Hall, their interpretor, was released on March 27 following a court order.