An Open Letter to Global Cyclists and UCI
No Cyclists Left Behind - It's Up to Everyone that Rides a Bike To Rescue Three Cyclists
Dear Cyclists of the World and UCI,
I’m writing to you directly in hopes that we can do the work that should have been nearly four years. To finish the work that was heartbreakingly close two years ago. To save the lives of three well-known cyclists in Afghanistan.
This is the story of three Afghan cyclists who were safely evacuated by road into Pakistan in 2021. Safeguarded in Islamabad for months. However, they were unable to obtain visas. They were trapped in Pakistan. Unable to work, vulnerable to racist attacks and increasing anti-Afghan refugee sweeps, they fled back into Afghanistan. All three young men come from Bamyan province. They were leaders in the cycling movement. They were also key witnesses in the case against the Afghan Cycling Federation President and Coach, providing physical evidence of death threats, which led to the guilty verdict by the UCI Ethics Commission. I wrote about this previously.
The problem is that the two cyclists who received death threats are the two who did not receive asylum. And UCI has done nothing to offer reparations, support, or even apologies to these two brave cyclists who risked their lives while in hiding to speak out. Many cyclists refused to testify because they were scared to risk their lives or their family's lives back in Afghanistan. Many were told they may put their asylum at risk in Switzerland (they had been part of the UCI evacuation) if they spoke out. But Shamsad and Ali Jan were in hiding in Pakistan throughout much of the case, having received direct death threats. They bravely spoke on the record, testified, and supplied me with copies of text messages and voicemails. The case against Fazli would have been much weaker without their testimony.
Shamsad and Ali Jan were included on the list of cyclists that I submitted to Italian journalist Francesca Monzone in 2021 for the Italian humanitarian flight which eventually departed from Pakistan in July 2022 with the majority of Afghan cyclists I evacuated to Pakistan. Shamsad and Ali Jan were not allowed on the final list - the only reason Francesca gave me was that Italy wouldn’t accept any more men. I do not know if that is true, as other male cyclists from Bamyan were received on a subsequent flight. However, the decision was made by her in Italy, determining which cyclists to accept, despite not knowing any of the cyclists personally. They were just names on a list. Male. Female. Age.
Hassan was a leader in the mountain biking and outdoor adventure community and a professional photographer whose work is widely known. He was evacuated and initially safeguarded by MTBAfghanistan. I initially had him on my evacuation list, but he was being sponsored by MTBAfghanistan, which was a relief, as I had an enormous list of cyclists to evacuate and support. However, in the end, MTBAfghanistan was unable to secure visas for their cyclists, as they were only focused on the U.S. Unfortunately, they gave up fundraising for safeguarding purposes. I took over communications with Hassan, but it was too late to get him on any humanitarian lists. Men were low priority, and it was very late in the evacuation game to get names placed. I have not given up on trying to get him asylum.
You can follow him on Instagram at h.silent_adventures to better understand the beauty and the outdoor lifestyle that was lost in Bamyan. You can easily imagine him living in Colorado with the adventure community, supported by a ton of sponsors. His photos taken out of context look like a typical outdoor influencer, but he is living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Don’t be fooled though. Living in Bamyan’s mountains and his photography are his only antidote to dark depression. Everything has been taken away from him. Not every photograph he posts is current, many are throw backs from happier times. But the outdoors are the one thing keeping him sane, and alive.
We need two things. Money to fund safeguarding so that we can evacuate them again to a third country to process visas. And they need asylum. That requires a country to see their value, and that requires a minor miracle. I am asking the cycling community to pressure UCI to request and lobby for three visas and a resettlement package for Switzerland - like they did in the initial evacuation - as part of the reparations for the guilty verdict UCI Ethics Commission found against the President and Coach of the Afghan Cycling Federation whom they supported and sponsored for evacuation and resettlement in Switzerland. UCI’s David Lappartient supported Fazli not just in evacuation but also by awarding him a Merit Award at the annual conference in Flanders and the following year, despite the ongoing allegations of abuse and harassment of cyclists, as well as impeding the evacuation of cyclists under his care.
There have been zero reparations for any cyclists that stepped forward, not for those still unable to cyclist in the diaspora due to the abuse from Fazli, but least of all for those left behind. UCI has the power and influence to help fundraise, find sponsors, and, most importantly, work with Swiss authorities to accept these cyclists who have been abandoned and have suffered greatly.
So… first, all three cyclists require funding. They have been living in dire conditions under Taliban rule for the past three years. I ask that we, as cyclists and non-cyclists alike, circulate this open letter to everyone we know, clubs, teams, federations, press and media, friends,and family. We need to amplify the fundraiser for two reasons.
We need to raise the funds ourselves to protect these three so that we can finally get them out. 4 years too late, but better late than never. If you followed me and my posts from August 15, 2021 on social media, you know that it was crowdfunding and direct aid that evacuated, safeguarded, and resettled over 150 Afghans and supported hundreds more evacuations. One of those first family evacuations was particularly meaningly to me and was a reunification of the founder of the Bamyan women’s team co-founder family in Germany. That successful evacuation was the first of all the subsequent evacuations I organized across the border to Pakistan over the next ten months. In total it cost over $40,000. It would not have been possible without crowdfunding. The legal team of Hogan Lovells worked in Germany to organize reunification and made a short film to celebrate the success and to show their lawyers how donating their time to pro bono cases can save lives. Three cyclists is nothing compared to what we have already accomplished. Please yourself and share the link with everyone you know.
We need the golden tickets. Three visas for asylum. That’s the minimum as I’d prefer that we can evacuate them with family members. One of them is married. So he certainly deserves to evacuate with his wife. France, Italy, and Spain are all possibilities, but UCI bears some responsibility in supporting reparations for the cyclists who were harmed by the man they protected and found guilty of death threats. We need to pressure UCI to secure visas - they have done so previously in 2021 for the initial evacuations, securing nearly 40 visas, so we know it is possible. Again, three is nothing in comparison to the 40 they initially distributed. We have pro bono lawyers at Hogan Lovells who assisted us throughout the evacuations and with the Ethics Commission case itself, and they are willing to do so again for advice, visa processing, and translation services. However, they can’t obtain visas for us. We need a champion. Should we set up a petition to pressure UCI, or do we know someone within the system who would be our champion? I am not loved because I have challenged them publicly so often for letting down the cyclists and siding with the abusers. That shouldn’t mean they don’t do the right thing now.
Imagine if these were your teammates. Your brothers. Your cousins. Your sons. Threatened by their own Coach and Cycling Federation President during the collapse of their country. Now homeless and living under Taliban rule. You would hope that someone would give a shit. I give a shit. I have been fighting for them, and I need you to fight with me. Cyclists need to stand together. Because these young men need you.
I need everyone, from cyclists to federations, clubs, teams, coaches, shop owners, brand owners, staff, influencers, mechanics, podcasters, and journalists, as well as parents teaching their kids to ride for the first time, to donate via the linkshare, and spread this open letter. WE NEED THIS TO GO GLOBAL AND VIRAL if we are going to save these three cyclists. Cycling is borderless. I can’t do this alone. The cycling community is enormous. It is global. It is young and old, genderless and genderfluid, and borderless. Please don’t leave these three behind.
