Imagine you are in a basement cell, measuring about 8 foot by 8 foot. It is completely damp, but not dark: the lights remain on 24 hours a day. You share this space with at least two others. You are only allowed out of the cell to use the toilet, and this is always in the company of a guard. Diet is meagre and repetitive: always rice and beans, and there is no access to medicine. What you do have is time. Lots of it. Hungering for contact with the outside world. You struggle to keep your spirits high, because this is where you have been for nearly six months, during which your hopes have been raised many times, and always cruelly dashed.
This is Peter's actual situation as described by Safi Rauf, a US citizen, who was held with Peter in the same undisclosed facility in Kabul, until Mr Rauf was released after a high-level intervention by the Biden administration.
“Not being able to talk to any one was the difficult part,” Mr Rauf said, in a press interview on CNN when he was freed. “People say we were in prison, but in prison, you get some rights.”
Mr Rauf’s first-hand account is important because it underlines the need for complete urgency by the FCDO to get Peter home now. Every day Peter spends in that cell, is lost to him. Nearly six months of his life lost. US government officials worked hard to secure the freedom of both Mr Rauf and his brother, who were in Afghanistan on humanitarian work. The deal, in the form of words, was apparently sealed with a high-level diplomatic visit. Why cannot the British Foreign Office do the same? Are they so worried about the optics of being seen to deal directly with the Taliban?
Peter’s family and friends are increasingly desperate at the feeling of inertia. We don’t have the power to unlock him from his cell: it seems the only party that can do this are Britain’s diplomats. If we look at the Biden adminstration’s success it is demonstrable that the Taliban will do a deal, but they need this to be delivered by someone at an appropriate level.
Most of you kind people who have signed this petition don’t know Peter, and it is worth relaying something about my relationship with him. I have known Peter for more than 30 years. He came to my wedding and was always there at key events in my life. I have always said that he was born in the wrong century, as he has the phlegmatic persona of a Victorian adventurer; very calm, proper and unflappable. Peter has a reputation for generosity and kindness, and I can only hope these qualities, as well as his legendary stoicism, will carry him through his ordeal. As ever, if you can get any of your friends to support our campaign, and spread the word, we remain truly grateful. we need Peter, and all other captives, to be released immediately.