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: TWO QATARI LAWYERS ARBITRARILY DETAINED (Qatar: UA 30.22)
Following protests expressing grievance at the recently passed Shura Council election law which discriminates against members of the Al Murra tribe, two Qatari lawyers, brothers Hazza and Rashed bin Ali…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Woman’s Execution Would Violate International Law (USA: UA 29.22)
Melissa Lucio, a 52-year-old Mexican American woman, is scheduled to be executed in Texas on April 27, 2022. She was convicted in 2008 of the 2007 murder of her two-year-old…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: ACTIVIST DEFENDING SAFE ABORTION RISKS JAIL (Poland: UA 28.22)
Woman human rights defender, Justyna Wydrzyńska, faces three years in prison solely for supporting people in need of an abortion. Charges against her appear to be intended to punish her…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: STOP EXTRADITION OF UYGHUR MEN TO CHINA (Saudi Arabia: UA 27.22)
Uyghur religious scholar Aimidoula Waili and his friend Nuermaimaiti Ruze are at high risk of forcible repatriation to China following their arrest in November 2020. Since this time, they have…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: LAWYER PROSECUTED BEFORE MILITARY COURT (Tunisia: UA 26.22)
On March 2, 2022, prominent lawyer Abderrazak Kilani, former president of the Tunisian Bar Association, was jailed by a military court. His prosecution stems from a verbal exchange on January…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: WOMEN RISK LENGTHY IMPRISONMENT FOR ‘INDECENCY’ (Egypt: UA 78.21)
Egyptian women social media influencers Hanin Hossam and Mawada el-Adham have been arbitrarily detained since Cairo’s Criminal Court convicted them for inciting “indecent” content, human trafficking, and other bogus charges,…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: PALESTINIAN LAWYER IN ARBITRARY DETENTION (Israel/OPT: UA 22.22)
French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hammouri has been issued a four-month administrative detention order. He is a field researcher for Palestinian NGO Addameer and has been held without charge or trial since…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: TORTURED OLDER PRISONER’S LIFE AT RISK (Iran: UA 24.22)
Iranian authorities are torturing Shokrollah Jebeli, an imprisoned 82-year-old Australian-Iranian national, by deliberately denying him adequate specialized medical care and withholding medication for his multiple serious health conditions. In light…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: DISCRIMINATORY LAW PUTS LIVES AND RIGHTS AT RISK (Guatemala: UA 23.22)
On March 8, 2022, the Guatemalan Congress approved Decree 18-2022, which toughens the criminalization of abortion, including for miscarriages, prohibits inclusive sex education and discriminates against LGBTIQ+ people. This law…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: GERMAN-IRANIAN FORCIBLY DISAPPEARED (Iran: UA 41.21)
Jamshid Sharmahd, a 66-year-old German-Iranian political dissident, is forcibly disappeared in Iran and at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Since September 2021, authorities have banned all family contact…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: COVID-19 JOURNALIST STILL NEEDS MEDICAL ATTENTION (China: UA 170.20)
Detained citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was able to speak to her mother through a 20-minute video call on January 28, 2022. During the call, Zhang Zhan mentioned that she had…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: ETHNIC UYGHUR AT RISK OF EXTRADITION TO CHINA (Morocco: UA 14.22)
Idris Hasan, an ethnic Uyghur living in Turkey, was arrested in July 2021 in Morocco on the basis of an Interpol red notice, which has since been cancelled. The Chinese…