Lawyers for an American man believed to have been held by the Taliban for about two years have called on UN human rights investigators to intervene, calling the treatment cruel and inhumane.
Ryan Corbett was abducted on August 10, 2022, after returning to Afghanistan, where he had been with his family when the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed a year ago. He entered the country on a valid 12-month visa to pay and train staff as part of a business he leads that aims to boost Afghanistan’s private sector through consulting services and financing.
American man approaches 600 days in Taliban captivity; wife asks Biden officials for help
Corbett has since bounced back and forth between prisons, but his lawyers say he has not been seen by anyone other than those he was being held with since December.
In a petition sent Thursday, Corbett’s lawyers said he has been threatened with physical violence and torture, is malnourished and has no access to medical care. Lawyers say he has been kept in solitary confinement, including in a basement, with little sunlight or exercise, and his physical and mental health has deteriorated significantly.
This family photo shows Ryan Corbett, daughter Miriam, and son Caleb holding a rabbit in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2020. Lawyers for Corbett, who is believed to have been held by the Taliban for nearly two years, are calling on UN human rights investigators to intervene. It can be called cruel and inhumane treatment. Corbett was sent to Afghanistan on August 10, 2022 after returning to Afghanistan, where he lived with his family at the time of the collapse of the US-based government a year ago, on a valid 12-month paid and training business visa. was abducted by. staff. (AP Photo/Anna Corbett)
Corbett has been able to speak to his family by phone five times since his arrest, including last month. His family was unable to see him, and his visits were limited to two check-ins by third-party state delegations. And the characterization of his abuse is based on the testimony of recently released prisoners who were with him and his overtly depressed tone. In conversation.
The petition, signed by Corbett family lawyers Ryan Fahey and Kate Gibson, states: “During a recent phone call between Mr. Corbett and his wife and children, Mr. He said that
The petition was addressed to Alice Edwards, an independent human rights investigator and Special Rapporteur on Torture at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and said that Edwards, appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, was “an urgent “We appeal to the Taliban to ensure Mr. Corbett’s immediate release and freedom from torture, as guaranteed by international law.” ”
Mr Corbett’s wife, Anna, said: ‘This situation is only going to drag on and I am becoming increasingly concerned and we are taking steps to improve the situation and hopefully make things better. “I feel increasingly concerned and panicked about the deterioration of my physical and mental health.” said in an interview. “And that inspired me to take the next step.”
The U.S. government is separately working on Corbett’s return and has designated him as unlawfully detained. A State Department spokesperson told reporters last month that officials continue to press for Corbett’s release and are “using every means possible to bring Ryan and other wrongfully detained Americans home from Afghanistan.” ” he said.
A spokesperson for Afghanistan’s interior ministry said this week that it had no knowledge of Corbett’s case.
Corbett, a resident of Dansville, New York, first visited Afghanistan in 2006 and moved there with his family in 2010, where he oversaw several non-governmental organizations.
The family was forced to leave Afghanistan in August 2021 when the Taliban took over Kabul, but returned in January the following year to renew their business visa. Given the unstable situation on the ground, the family discussed the trip and “we were all pretty nervous,” Corbett’s wife said.
But after an initial uneventful trip, he returned home in August 2022 to train and pay his staff and restart his business, which includes consulting services, microfinance lending, and evaluation of international development projects.
Corbett and his Western colleagues encountered armed Taliban members during a trip to the northern province of Jawjan and were taken first to a police station and then to an underground prison.
Anna Corbett said she was “really scared” when she learned her husband had been taken to the police station, but was optimistic the situation would be resolved soon.
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But that didn’t happen, and Anna Corbett, who has three teenagers and visits Washington regularly, said she is trying to make her case as forcefully as possible while “trying not to get anxious.” Ta.
“I find the uncertainty of everything very difficult because you don’t know what phone call you’re going to get, you don’t know what news you’re going to get, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I’m worried about Ryan and the impact that trauma is having on him and even my children, what they’re going through, even though I’ve tried to protect them as best I can. , this is very difficult.”
