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 Update: Prisoner of Conscience Appeals Parole Denial (Russian Federation: UA 155.20)
On 22 October, the Dmitrovgrad town court, in Russia’s Ulyanovsk region, rejected the parole application of 21-year-old human rights defender, Yan Sidorov. Yan Sidorov and his friend, Vladislav Mordasov, are…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Murdered Defender’s Family Still in Danger (Peru: UA 144.20)
The family of murdered defender Roberto Carlos Pacheco remain at risk after insufficient protection from authorities. On 3 October, the Police detained three of the five persons allegedly responsible for…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: PIKPA Refugee Shelter Closed Down (Greece: UA 152.20)
The eviction of the PIKPA refugee shelter in Lesvos was carried out on the morning of 30 October. Unaccompanied minors had been transferred to mainland Greece ahead of the eviction.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Legal Abortion is Closer Than Ever (Argentina: UA 163.20)
In March 2020, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez publicly committed to present a bill to Congress to legalize abortion before the year’s end. On 17 November 2020, he fulfilled this commitment…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Human Rights Defender Sentenced to Prison (Azerbaijan: UA 45.20)
Azerbaijani human rights defender Elchin Mammad was sentenced to four years in prison on 14 October. He was arrested on 30 March on trumped up charges of theft and illegal…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Fate of Disappeared Lawyer Remains Unknown (Iraq: UA 173.19)
A year has passed since Ali Jaseb’s abduction by armed men suspected of belonging to the Popular Mobilization Unit. Despite the Prime Minister’s promise to investigate his whereabouts, there continues…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Austrian-Iranian Prisoner at Risk (Iran: UA 162.20)
Massud Mossaheb, a 73-year-old Austrian-Iranian dual national, is serving a 10-year prison term imposed after a grossly unfair trial for vague national security offenses. He is being held in Tehran’s…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Woman Human Rights Defender at Risk of Torture (Viet Nam: UA 161.20)
Woman human rights defender Pham Thi Doan Trang was arrested on 6 October 2020 for her peaceful activism. Facing up to 20 years in prison, she is currently being held…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Defenders’ Lives at Risk (Bolivia: UA 159.20)
Human rights defenders Waldo and Franco Albarracin reported that since 19 October 2020, one day after the presidential elections, they have received several death threats from unidentified persons through their…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Life Imprisonment for Missing Kazakh Writer (China: UA 63.20)
Ethnic Kazakh writer Nagyz Muhammed has been convicted of “separatism” for gathering with his friends on Kazakhstan Independence Day, expressing opinions on Xinjiang’s “bilingual education” policy and encouraging Kazakhs living…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Citizen Who Protested Travel Ban Arbitrarily Detained (Qatar: UA 158.20)
On 4 October 2020, Mohammed al-Sulaiti, a Qatari citizen, was arbitrarily detained after vocally criticizing his government on Twitter. This is the second time he has been arbitrarily detained, having…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: #ENDSARS: Investigate Killings of Protesters (Nigeria: UA 157.20)
Since 8 October, Nigerians have been taking to the streets, peacefully demanding an end to police brutality, extrajudicial executions and extortion by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of…