Islamabad – The Taliban said on Wednesday that efforts to free a British couple from an Afghan jail have not yet been completed and denied that their rights are being violated despite concerns with their families and United Nations officials.
Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who are in their 70s, were arrested in early February after being taken to the capital Kabul in Central Bamiyan province.
Husband and wife run an organization that provides education and training programs. Family members in Britain have said that they are being abused and conducted on undeclared allegations.
The United Nations human rights experts called for the release of the couple on Monday, warning that their physical and mental health were deteriorating rapidly and were at risk of irreparable loss or even death.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaki dismissed concerns about the violation of rights.
“They are in constant contact with their families,” Mutaki told reporters at a media briefing in Kabul. “Consular services are available. Efforts are underway to secure their release. These steps have not been completed yet. Their human rights are being respected. They are being given full access to treatment, contact and housing.”
He did not say what steps were being taken to secure his release.
According to United Nations experts, the maximum-protection facility in the magic of the couple in custody included time and later in underground cells, without sunlight, before the time was transferred to the top-land cells in the general directorate of the Intelligence Directorate in Kabul.
Peter needs a heart medicine and, during his detention, his head has two eye infections and stroke shocks and under his left hand. He recently collapsed, said experts, while Barbie is suffering from anemia and remains weak.
Family members said that British Foreign Ministry officials visited the couple on 17 July.
Peter and Barbie have no bed or furniture and sleep on a mattress on the floor, the family said in a statement on Sunday.
Peter’s face is red, peeling and bleeding, possibly due to the return of skin cancer, which needs to be removed immediately. The children said, “We, their four adults, have written privately to the Taliban leadership twice, have argued for them to maintain their beliefs of compassion, kindness, fairness and human dignity.”
