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 Victory! Early Release for Former Child Soldier (Myanmar: UA 132.18)
Aung Ko Htwe, former child soldier, was released from prison a few months early on 6 September 2019, likely due to good behavior. Arrested in August 2017 after giving a…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Evelyn at Risk of Further Criminalization (El Salvador: UA 133.19)
Evelyn Hernández was acquitted of charges for aggravated homicide in August, after suffering an obstetric emergency in which she lost her pregnancy in 2016. She is now at risk of…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Another Journalist Arrested to Silence Dissent (Tanzania: UA 127.19)
Erick Kabendera, a well-respected journalist whose investigations have been critical of the human rights record of the Tanzanian government, was taken by six men in plainclothes from his home in…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Imprisoned Teenager Denied Medical Care (Belarus: UA 129.19)
Vladislav Sharkovsky is serving a 10-year prison sentence at a juvenile colony for a minor, non-violent drug offense. His health has been deteriorating since his arrest in March 2018, but…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Attacks on Human Rights Defender Investigated (Colombia: UA 91.19)
On 28 August, Colombia’s National Prosecutor agreed with Danelly Estupiñán to run a national investigation aimed at finding those responsible for the different security incidents putting Danelly’s life in danger.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: NGO Worker’s Detention Renewed (Israel/OPT: UA 171.18)
On 11 September 2019, the Israeli Ofer Military Court in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) approved the renewal of Ayman Nasser’s administrative detention for a further four months. His detention…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Tortured Prisoner Needs Medical Care (Iran: UA 120.19)
Austrian-Iranian businessman Kamran Ghaderi is serving a 10-year prison sentence after a grossly unfair trial that relied on “confessions” obtained under torture to convict him of “co-operating with hostile states…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Rohingya Law Student Suspended from Studies (Bangladesh: UA 118.19)
University student Rohima Akter Khushi has been suspended during her second semester at a private university in Cox’s Bazar solely due to her being Rohingya. One of the very few…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Journalist Charged with Criminal Offenses (Mozambique: UA 1.19)
On 5 September 2019, journalist Amade Abubacar and his lawyer were notified by the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Cabo Delgado Province of final charges against him. On 10…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov Finally Free (Russian Federation: UA 79.19)
Crimean Tatar, Edem Bekirov, is finally free and reunited with his family in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, following a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine on 7 September. Edem Bekirov was…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Trans Asylum Seeker Freed From Detention (USA: UA 108.18)
Alejandra Barrera, a transgender Salvadorian activist held in USA immigration detention since 2017, was released late Friday 6 September 2019. We will continue to monitor the status of her asylum…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Activist Detained a Year Without Trial (Viet Nam: UA 117.19)
Đoàn Thị Hồng was unlawfully arrested in September 2018 and has been detained without trial. Held incommunicado for eleven months, her family were finally able to meet with her on…