Taliban say efforts to release a British couple from Afghan prison not yet complete

ISLAMABAD (AP) – The Taliban said Wednesday that efforts to free a British couple from an Afghan prison are not yet complete and denied that their rights were being violated despite concerns from their families and U.N. officials.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who are in their 70s, were arrested in early February after being taken from their home in central Bamiyan province to the capital, Kabul.

The husband and wife run an organization that provides education and training programs. Family members in the U.K. have said they are being mistreated and held on undisclosed charges.

U.N. human rights experts on Monday called for the couple’s release, warning their physical and mental health was deteriorating rapidly and that they were at risk of irreparable harm or even death.

The Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi rejected concerns about rights violations.

“They are in constant contact with their families,” Muttaqi told reporters at a media briefing in Kabul. “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.

According to the U.N. experts, the couple’s spell in detention included time in a maximum-security facility and later in underground cells, without sunlight, before being moved to above-ground cells at the General Directorate of Intelligence in Kabul.

Peter needs heart medication and, during his detention, has had two eye infections and intermittent tremors in his head and down his left arm. He recently collapsed, the experts added, while Barbie suffers from anaemia and remains weak.

Officials from the U.K. Foreign Ministry visited the couple on July 17, family members said.

Peter and Barbie have no bed or furniture and sleep on a mattress on the floor, the family said in a statement Sunday.

Peter’s face is red, peeling and bleeding, likely due to the return of skin cancer that urgently needs removing. “We, their four adult children, have written privately to the Taliban leadership twice, pleading for them to uphold their beliefs of compassion, mercy, fairness, and human dignity,” the children added.