AFGHANISTAN: ARBITRARY DETENTION OF FOREIGN NATIONAL RYAN CORBETT

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the government of Afghanistan to take all necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 11/2025 concerning Ryan Corbett, asking the government of Afghanistan to immediately and unconditionally release Ryan Corbett and to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.

Read the full WGAD opinion concerning Ryan Corbett (Afghanistan): Opinion No. 11/2025

ARREST AND DETENTION OF A FOREIGN NATIONAL

Ryan Corbett is a national of the United States of America, born on 13 April 1983. In January 2010, he and his family moved to Kabul in Afghanistan, where, between 2010 and 2015, Mr. Corbett supervised projects for various NGOs focusing on issues of education, birth and life-saving skills. Mr. Corbett and his family were forced to evacuate Afghanistan in August 2021 as the Taliban forces seized control of Kabul. However, he continued to operate Bloom Afghanistan, his social enterprise on strengthening the private sector of Afghanistan through business consulting, microfinance lending, and monitoring and evaluation of international development projects on behalf of other organizations, from the United States.

On 10 August 2022, when he returned to Afghanistan for the second time of the year, he was confronted at his accommodation by 20 armed members of the Taliban, despite having all the visas required.

Following his arrest on 10 August 2022, and during his subsequent detention, which lasted for three years, Mr. Corbett and his colleague were questioned by the local authorities and then driven to their main headquarters in the Jowzjan region. They were not given any reason for their detention, nor were they presented with an arrest warrant.

Initially, Mr. Corbett and his colleague expected to be released promptly once the Taliban had received proof of the legitimacy of their presence. However, the next day, they were taken to an underground prison within the police headquarters for three nights and later questioned as if they were spies. They were transferred to Kabul to a security compound before being transferred to a former Presidential Palace with confined underground cells. In November 2022, Mr. Corbett and his colleague were reunited in a monitored cell with another foreign national. His colleague was released in December 2022, while he was transferred to another prison in April 2023. He was released on 20 January 2025.

The Government was given the opportunity to contest these allegations; however, it did not respond to the allegations.

ARBITRARILY ARRESTED, HELD INCOMMUNICADO, ARRESTED WITHOUT WARRANT AND NO ACCESS TO A LAWYER

Given the information of the source on the absence of any legal basis invoked to justify the arrest and detention of Mr. Corbett, the Working Group found, as such, that de facto authorities detained Mr. Corbett without providing any justification whatsoever, thereby rendering his detention wholly beyond any legal framework and in violation of article 9 of the Covenant.

Moreover, according to the source, Mr. Corbett was detained without a warrant and was not provided one thereafter throughout his arrest. He has not been charged with any crime for over two years. The Working Group recalled the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee, stating that an arrest warrant must be provided immediately upon arrest and must invoke a legal basis and apply it to the circumstances of the case. Hence, in the absence of a warrant, the Working Group found the situation in violation of Article 9 (2) of the Covenant.

The source claimed that Mr. Corbett had never been brought before any court or given access to the means to challenge his detention. The Working Group reminded that the right to challenge the legality of detention is a self-standing human right and it applies irrespective of the place of detention. Therefore, the Working Group concluded that the situation of Mr. Corbett violated his right to challenge his detention guaranteed under article 9 (3) and (4) of the Covenant.

Therefore, considering all the above, the working group found that Mr. Corbett arrest and detention lacked a legal basis, rendering his deprivation of liberty arbitrary under category I.

VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

Mr. Corbett’s arrest and detention were the result of his exercising his right to freedom of movement inside Afghanistan. The source pointed out that the authorities told them that foreigners were not allowed in "certain places" of the country without permission. Thus, the Working Group found his detention in breach of article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 12 of the Covenant.

For the foregoing reason, the Working Group considered that Mr. Corbett’s arrest and detention were arbitrary under category II.

SUBJECTED TO TORTURE, HELD INCOMUNICADO

The source submitted that Mr. Corbett was held incommunicado, denied ICRC and consular visits. Over the two years of detention, he was visited on only two occasions and had five phone calls. The source also noted a failure to provide Mr. Corbett with access to a lawyer. The Working Group pointed out that the absence of a lawyer and the incommunicado detention seriously affected his ability to prepare his defense. Based on that, the Working Group concluded on a violation of articles 9 (3) and (4), 14 (3) (b) and (d) of the Covenant as prompt presentation before a judge, the ability to challenge the lawfulness of the detention and the right to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence were violated.

Furthermore, the source affirmed that Mr. Corbett suffered torture during his detention. He was threatened with beatings, forced to listen to torture, held in solitary confinement for long periods and given false hopes. The Working Group recalled that in the case of torture and impossibility to prepare an adequate defense, the situation violated the right to a fair trial. In light of the source's wide variety of mistreatment and torture, the Working Group subsequently found that the authorities deprived him of his due process rights under article 14 of the Covenant.

Therefore, considering all the above, the Working Group found that the violation of the right to a fair trial and due process of Mr. Corbett had been of such gravity as to render his deprivation of liberty arbitrary under category III.

ARBITRARY DETENTION ON THE BASIS OF FOREIGN NATIONALITY

The source conveyed that Mr. Corbett’s detention was due to his status as a citizen of the United States of America, as there is a history of persecution of United States citizens by the Taliban, moreover, some comments were made by guards about Americans in Afghanistan. On this basis, the Working Group found that Mr. Corbett was deprived of his liberty due to his nationality in violation of his rights under articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2 (1) and 26 of the Covenant.

His deprivation of liberty is therefore arbitrary according to category V.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP ON ARBITRARY DETENTION

In the light of the foregoing, the Working Group found that the deprivation of liberty of Ryan Corbett, being in contravention of articles  2, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is arbitrary and falls within categories I, II, III and V.

The Working Group recommended that the Government of Afghanistan take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr. Corbett without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms, including those set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Working Group considers that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Corbett immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.