Family of Dansville man being held by Taliban calls for UN torture investigator to help

DANSVILLE N.Y. – Lawyers for a Livingston County man being held by the Taliban are asking for a United Nations authority on torture to investigate the cruel treatment his family says he has experienced.

The Taliban has detained Ryan Corbett of Dansville for nearly two years, ever since he returned to Afghanistan to pay and train staff members for his consulting services and lending business venture.

News10NBC has spoken with Corbett’s wife, who said she’s gotten to speak to her husband just four times, for less than 10 minutes each time, since he’s been detained.

Lawyers for Corbett say the Taliban has threatened him with physical violence and torture, kept him malnourished, and deprived him of medical care. They also say the Corbett has been kept in solitary confinement, including in a basement cell, with almost no sunlight and exercise.

“During Mr. Corbett’s most recent call with his wife and children, Mr. Corbett indicated that the mental torture and anguish have caused him to lose all hope,” said the petition, signed by the Corbett family attorneys.

The petition is addressed to Alice Edwards, an independent human rights investigator and the authority for torture in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the U.N. It asks Edwards to “urgently reach out to the Taliban to secure Mr. Corbett’s immediate release and freedom from torture, as guaranteed by international law.”

As News10NBC has reported, leaders of the U.S. Senate came together to pass a resolution demanding the release of Corbett. In addition, his wife attended the State of the Union address in March to bring awareness to Corbett being wrongfully detained.