The son of a British couple currently being held by the Taliban has shared an insight into the harsh conditions his parents have faced.
Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were arrested by the Taliban on 1 February when they were returning to their home in Bamyan province in central Afghanistan.
They have spent five and a half months in detention without being charged and were held separately in a maximum-security prison until eight weeks ago.
“Originally they were taken into local stations and transferred to Kabul put in a maximum security prison where they were separate,” their son, Jonathan Reynolds said.
“Mum was in a women’s prison my dad was in a mens prison with about 10,000 men where he was chained to murderers and criminals.”
They were then transferred to the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), with the promise of release within two to three days, but this has turned into on for months.
The children said their parents had better conditions at the GDI but that they still had no bed or furniture and they have grave concerns about the health of their elderly parents.
The last contact the children had with their parents was in June when their mother said their father’s health was rapidly deteriorating.
“It’s very painful hearing your elderly parents and their health failing so much and so fast and nobody seems to be able to turn the key and release them,” Mr Reynolds said.
“My father who has had a number of historic minor heart attacks, now some minor Parkinson’s seem to have developed.
“He has shaking in his hands arms and face to the point he was on the floor and he couldn’t get up and his whole body was shaking. My mum had to call some prison guards to help get him back onto his mattress pad on the floor – they don’t even have beds.
“My mum has numbness in her body. Her hands and feet going blue, partly because of malnutrition and some kind of anaemia.”
He added: “The reality is they may die in that prison and this is why I’m pleading with whoever has the ability to release them and bring them home now.”
The British couple was living in Afghanistan for the past 18 years, running education and training projects and decided to remain in the country even after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.
In a statement on Monday, UN human rights experts said the Reynolds couple was “at risk of irreparable harm or even death” without access to adequate medical care.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan.”
