What is the Urgent Action Network?
The concept is simple: Take Action, Change a Life.
Urgent Actions ask our community of volunteers to flood the mailboxes, inboxes, phones and social media of authorities when someone is in imminent danger of human rights violations. Your letters, emails, phone calls, faxes and Tweets have helped to halt executions, support human rights defenders and free prisoners of conscience—people jailed solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs and identity.
Please note that the US postal service has suspended service to some countries in light of COVID-19 – reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions.
How Does It Work?
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STEP 1: Sign Up Today!
Sign up to receive Urgent Action emails. You can choose to receive all emails or a more limited number. You can also choose to receive emails on specific issues or regions.
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STEP 2: Take Action Now!
Urgent Action emails specify the case, local and international government officials to contact, their contact information and suggestions about what to write, say or Tweet.
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Our Educator’s Guide
Are you an educator looking for ways to engage your students in human rights? Find out how your students can show their power through letter writing!
In many cases, your action on these cases leads to better conditions for prisoners and their eventual release. Those individuals at the center of these Urgent Actions often send their thanks to Amnesty International, citing that these messages serve as a source of hope.
The reason we could resist the ban and move forward was the international support and solidarity by Amnesty International activists around the world. We could not have gone further without your support.
I am very grateful for all the support I received while I was in prison. Life in prison was very difficult and I was treated badly, but the support of those who believed in me made me strong.
My case once again showed how important solidarity and attention are in protecting the freedom of speech and human rights. I admire your noble work and boundless courage, dear activists.
Browse Urgent Actions
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Israeli Civilians Abducted For More Than 2 Years (Israel/OPT: UA 133.17)
Avera Mangistu and Hisham al-Sayed have been missing respectively since 7 September 2014 and 20 April 2015 in the Gaza Strip. The two Israeli civilians suffer from serious mental health…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Female Activist Sentenced To Nine Years In Prison (Viet Nam: UA 24.17)
Labour and land rights activist Trần Thị Nga was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment on 25 July 2017 for “conducting propaganda” against the state under Article 88 of the Penal…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Bahraini Activist Risks 7 Years In Jail For Retweets (Bahrain: UA 185.17)
Bahraini activist Yaser Mawali has been on trial before the Lower Court in Manama, the capital, since 7 June charged with “insulting the King” for two posts he had retweeted.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Activists Arrested For Tiananmen Commemoration (China: UA 148.17)
Two activists, Ding Yajun and Shi Tingfu, have been formally charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for commemorating the 28th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. Hu Jianguo, another activist…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Professor Released After 47 Days Of Abduction (Libya: UA 109.17)
University professor Dr. Salem Mohamed Beitelmal was released on 6 June. He had been abducted by local militias on the outskirts of Tripoli since 20 April. He has now returned…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Human Rights Defender Facing Intimidation (Nigeria: UA 181.17)
Human rights defender Maurice Fangnon was detained at the Nigerian Police Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department in Abuja accused of providing police with false information that a member of…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: 14 Saudi Arabian Men At Imminent Risk Of Execution (Saudi Arabia: UA 180.17)
Fourteen Saudi Arabian men are at imminent risk of execution after their families learned on 23 July that the Supreme Court has ratified their death sentences. On 1 June 2016,…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Court Stays Mental Exam Of University Lecturer (Uganda: UA 89.17)
Dr Stella Nyanzi, an academic and feminist, will not be subjected to a mental health examination after a magistrate court ordered a stay of the examination on 25 May. Dr…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Arbitrary Detainees On Hunger Strike (Venezuela: UA 174.17)
The physical integrity and lives of 14 police officers arbitrarily detained for politically motivated reasons are at risk in Venezuela, since they began a hunger strike 23 days ago to…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Congress Rejects Regressive Abortion Reform (Dominican Republic: UA 151.16)
On 11 July, the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Congress voted to reject proposed reforms to the Criminal Code that failed to decriminalize abortion in limited circumstances and continued…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Defenders End Strike, Release Secured (Cuba: UA 76.17)
Share: On This Page Siblings and human rights defenders Anairis Miranda Leyva, Adairis Miranda Leyva and Fidel Manuel Batista Leyva ended the hunger strike they began on 8 June after…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Woman Convicted Under Unfair Anti-Abortion Law (El Salvador: UA 98.17)
While Salvadoran legislators have, for months, been postponing the debate on the Criminal Code reform that would decriminalize abortion, another rape survivor has been sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment for…