Family of American man held hostage by the Taliban speak out
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - President Biden plans to meet Wednesday with families of Americans taken hostage in Israel by Hamas as their ordeal is bringing new attention to other detained Americans around the world.
CBS News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Face the Nation Moderator Margaret Brennan spoke with the family of Ryan Corbett, a 40-year-old American held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for the last 16 months, pleading for his release.
"While we love and respect the people of your country, I desperately need my father home," said Caleb, Corbett's son.
Caleb, 13-years-old, read a letter he personally wrote to the Taliban, pleading with them to free his father, who has been detained in Afghanistan for 16 months, and Caleb, Corbett's wife, Anna, and Corbett and Anna's two daughters are desperate to bring Ryan home.
When asked what life in detainment is like for Corbett, Anna said, "He's held in a very small cell. He's allowed sunlight 15 to 20 minutes per month...There have been reports of him fainting, of seizures...and he had to celebrate his 40th birthday in a cell, alone."
Corbett was arrested in August of 2022, a year after the last U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan.
Brennan asked Anna why her husband felt is was safe to go when the State Department told Americans not to go, to which Anna responded, "He had a business visa. He had been living there since 2010...He did not want to abandon his employees and shut that down just for his own comfort. So, it was really for the Afghans and for his staff that he returned."
Corbett tried to restart his business consultancy for Afghans, which he'd abandoned in 2021, as the family fled amidst the chaos of the Taliban seizing power.
"We had five suitcases, five carry-ons...The kids had to say goodbye to their pets," Anna shared while adding that the family lived in Afghanistan for almost 12 years.
Fleeing the country, where Caleb was born and raised, and keeping quiet about Corbett's imprisonment until now, has been traumatic.
"My neighbors were assuming that he had left us. When people asked me questions, I had to respond: He's on a business trip, A never-ending business trip. The children had to pretend with their friends that everything was normal."
Anna Corbett, Ryan's wife
The Taliban has twice allowed Corbett to make brief calls home.
"We've had now 16 minutes in 16 months, which is insane. It's hard to really tell how he's doing, because he's not alone on these calls. And on the last call, when he started talking about his health, the call was cut off," Anna shared.
A Qatari official took a photo of a visibly thinner Corbett in captivity, which has never been made public until now.
The U.S. has had no access to Corbett, but does meet with the Taliban about humanitarian aid and counterterrorism.
Corbett's family argues bringing a U.S. citizen home should be the priority.
"It does not make sense to move on with any policies, or any strengthening relationship with the Taliban, until this is resolved," Anna expressed.
The top State Department envoy met with a Taliban official in Doha on Tuesday, and raised the cases of at least three wrongfully detained Americans, including Corbett.
Last September, the Taliban conducted a prisoner swap with the United States. Taliban officials contacted by CBS News insist Corbett is being treated well, but did not indicate what they seek for his release.
Corbett's family is buying him Christmas presents, hoping they'll all be reunited soon.
