Cliff Notes
- An elderly British couple, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, have been detained in a high-security prison in Afghanistan since 1 February, with their son stating they have “never heard one accusation or one charge.”
- The couple, who have lived in Afghanistan for the last 18 years and run an educational organisation, are reportedly being held separately, and their son’s efforts for clarification yield no credible charges following numerous investigative interviews.
- The Taliban’s stated reason for the arrest involved a “misunderstanding” about alleged fake Afghan passports, yet the couple’s welfare remains a significant concern, compounded by challenges in the prison system, particularly for women.
British couple held in Afghanistan have ‘never heard one accusation or one charge’
An elderly British couple being held in a high security prison in Afghanistan have “never heard one accusation or one charge”, their son has told Sky News.
Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on 1 February.
The couple married in Kabul in 1970 and have lived in Afghanistan for the last 18 years.
They run Rebuild, an organisation that provides education and training programmes.
Last month, they were moved to a maximum security prison in Kabul.
Their son Jonathan, speaking from Chicago, told Sky News that nine weeks on, he cannot say why the couple are still being held, but he and his siblings are extremely worried for their welfare and are asking for help from any possible source.
The Taliban’s motives in locking his parents up remain unclear, he added.
While they have been able to speak to their parents a “number of times from a pay phone within the prison” it’s been a “rollercoaster of emotions”, Mr Reynolds said.
He explained that within the Afghan prison system, women are fed only once a day, while there is more food for the men.
In addition, the women “have to pay for their own food”.
The Qatari government has been able to get medicine and money to the couple – who are being held separately – and Mr Reynolds said he was extremely grateful for the Qataris’ help.
Regarding possible reasons for the incarceration, Mr Reynolds said: “I believe there have been 29 investigative interviews with staff members – people they have served and supported – and everything has come up as no credible charges.
“They took a short flight to pick up a Chinese-American friend who has visited multiple times.
“Originally they (authorities) said they didn’t have the right paperwork to have a chartered plane, which was incorrect and it was all produced.
“So that was dropped.”
Asked whether his parents had been naive, Mr Reynolds said: “I think anyone who goes in their 60s and 70s to live and become Afghan citizens is probably not naive to the dangers of it.
“If they wanted to live a quiet, retired life and be around their grandkids they could have done that.
“They are under a deep conviction from back in the late 60s when they married in Afghanistan in 1970 that they were going to give their life for a bright future for Afghanistan.”
He added that when the Taliban took over, the British government offered to get them out, but they replied: “Why would we leave these people in their darkest hour?”
The Reynolds’ daughter Sarah says it is the longest they have gone without speaking to each other since becoming “sweethearts in the 1960s”.
While Sarah said her father had lost weight, she added that he can “find light in the darkest of places”.
At the end of February, the Taliban claimed the arrests happened because of a “misunderstanding” that the Reynolds had fake Afghan passports.
The day before that, the BBC reported the Taliban as saying they would endeavour to release the couple “as soon as possible”.