Their Last Will And Testament

"I don't know if they're still alive. How would I know if they were no longer alive? Who's going to call me? The Taliban's never called me. Who's going to call? I don't know."

"They were told by the judge that they were not guilty of any crimes."

"So many times we've been told two to three days and then you'll be released ... But it's six months on Saturday." 

"You have to remember their age. Are they in danger? Yeah, they're an elderly couple who are unjustly held ... in captivity. They are not free."

"Their bodies are not used to being put through this, they're being trapped, they're sleeping on a little mattress on the floor."

"My dad has had heart attacks ... he has a stent in this heart. He has had skin cancer."

"So he needs an ECG [electrocardiogram] blood test, EEG [electroencephalogram], CT scans. He needs all of that."

Jonathan Reynolds, London 

 

"Their human rights are being respected."

"They are being provided with medical care. They are in occasional contact with their families."

"Their case isn't anything serious."

Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi

Peter and Barbie Reynolds were arrested in Afghanistan in February   PA Media

 

In 2021 when the Taliban returned to power as the diplomats and military presence of international powers through the NATO alliance led by the United States under a United Nations mandate, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, a British couple whose long residence in Afghanistan led to a dual citizenship, made the decision to remain in Afghanistan. The British embassy advised them that since the embassy was being closed and all diplomatic staff returning to Britain, it would be best for them to return to the U.K. and leave Afghanistan. "Why are you staying", they were asked, "You're on your own."

 

And on their own they remain. They were detained by Taliban authorities and placed in prison, where they've been for the last six months, without having been charged with any offence. Their health is declining ... Peter Reynolds is 80 years of age, Barbie Reynolds is 76. Arrested in February along with a friend, Chinese-American Faye Hall, and an Afghan translator, both of whom were subsequently released in March. 

 

The pair spent close to two decades in Afghanistan, operating educational programs and becoming Afghan citizens. When they were arrested they were returning to their home in central Bamiyan province. Since then, Taliban authorities have refused any explanation as to the reason for their arrest. They were held at first at a maximum security facility "then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred" to the intelligence services in Kabul, according to UN experts.

 

Independent UN human rights experts called for the Taliban to release the elderly pair in July, given the "rapid deterioration" of their physical and mental health, noting they "risk irreparable harm or even death". A website called Free Peter and Barbie, to campaign for their release, was set up by the couple's children. There is a countdown of the number of days they have been held, on the website. 

 

Peter Reynolds suffered two eye infections and intermittent tremors in his head and left arm since being detained, according to the UN experts. Barbie Reynolds is "weak and fragile", the experts explain, suffering from malnourishment and anemia following months of being "fed once a day in prison". 

 

They had operated an organization called Rebuild, to provide educational programs for women and children in a country, under an Islamist fundamentalist government that denies education to women and girls.  

Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged 80 and 75, have been detained by the Taliban without charges since February. Photograph: BBC

"My parents have never thought about their security and safety."

"[It is] no way to treat an elderly couple who've given the last two decades of their life for the good of Afghanistan."

Jonathan Reynolds

 

"How could we leave these people in their darkest hour?

"We came here because we love these people, and that's what we'll give the rest of our lives to, even if it means we die."

British couple Peter and Barbie Reynolds