UN Special Rapporteur Alice Jill Edwards said Thursday that the Taliban must provide detained US humanitarian worker Ryan Corbett with immediate medical treatment in light of his deteriorating health. Corbett was allegedly detained by the Taliban on August 10, 2022.

According to Edwards, Corbett was confined in a tiny, locked cell without sunlight in Afghanistan. He was always under armed guard and lacked access to legal assistance. As a result, he suffers from physical and mental health issues, such as numbness in his feet, severe weight loss and intentions of self-harm and suicide. Corbett is at risk of “irreparable harm or even death” if he does not receive sufficient medical attention.

Edwards highlighted the importance of treating Corbett humanely. She said:

Persons deprived of liberty must always be treated humanely … The conditions of detention and treatment under which [Corbett] and many other detainees have been held violate the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Being held without charge or procedure is exacerbating his physical and mental health and presents an immediate or longer-term danger to life.

Edwards also said that Corbett should be immediately released unconditionally if he is found to be arbitrarily deprived of liberty. Corbett is not charged with any crime.

Previously on October 23, 2023, UN experts warned that Afghanistan faced a “deteriorating human rights situation.” UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennet underscored an array of challenges afflicting Afghanistan, primarily attributable to the policies and actions undertaken by the Taliban as well as persisting humanitarian and economic crises in the region. Bennet called upon the international community to launch immediate and collaborative measures to avert any further suffering in Afghanistan and the broader region.