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: A Decade in Jail for Defying Forced Veiling (Iran: UA 96.19)
Two Iranian women’s rights defenders, Yasaman Aryani and Monireh Arabshahi, have each been sentenced to 16 years in prison, while a third, Mojgan Keshavarz, has been sentenced to 23 years…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Charges Against Mauritanian Bloggers Dropped (Mauritania: UA 49.19)
All the charges against bloggers Cheikh Jiddou and Abderrahmane Weddady were dropped by a judge, who also dismissed the case against them, on 29 July. Their travel and identification documents…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Uyghur Woman Held Incommunicado for 2 Years (China: UA 222.17)
Buzainafu Abudourexiti continues to be held in incommunicado detention after she was suddenly detained in March 2017 and sentenced in a secret trial to seven years in prison. There is…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Young Man at Imminent Risk of Execution (Sudan: UA 103.19)
Amnesty International is alarmed that the Constitutional Court of Sudan confirmed the death sentence against Abbas Mohammed Nur Musa on 20 May 2019. Abbas had appealed his death sentence after…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Labor Activists Held in Secret Detention (China: UA 37.19)
Wei Zhili (pictured below) and Ke Chengbing, both editors of labor rights news and advocacy website “New Generation” (xinshengdai), have been held in incommunicado detention since March 2019. Their detention…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Activist Held Incommunicado for Months (China: UA 67.19)
Yang Zhengjun, a prominent workers’ rights activist has been held incommunicado since 8 January 2019. The editor-in-chief of iLabor.net / “New Generation” (Xinshengdai), an independent website covering workers’ rights stories,…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Activists Released on Bail, Awaiting Trial (Zimbabwe: UA 76.19)
The trial of seven activists, charged with treason for attending a training in the Maldives, has yet to begin due to the authorities’ lack of preparedness. The activists have appeared…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Grassroots Women Activist Held Incommunicado (China: UA 102.19)
Chen Jianfang, a devoted grassroots human rights defender has been held in incommunicado detention since 20 March. A well-known activist, she led a campaign in 2013 with late activist Cao…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Three Men Executed By Firing Squad in Bahrain (Bahrain: UA 69.17)
On 27 July 2019, Ali Mohamed Hakeem al-Arab, Ahmed Isa Ahmed Isa al-Malali and another man were executed by firing squad at Jaw prison, south of the capital Manama. On…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Newspaper Editor Detained Without Charge (South Sudan: UA 101.19)
On 15 July 2019, Michael Rial Christopher, a 40-year-old South Sudanese newspaper editor was taken off a flight to Kenya by National Security Service (NSS) agents and arbitrarily arrested in…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Attacks on Ysati Community Under Investigation (Paraguay: UA 32.19)
The Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation into the March attacks against the Ysati indigenous community “3 de Julio”. The Paraguayan Institute for Indigenous Affairs (INDI) provided them with humanitarian assistance…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Justice for Survivor of Sexual Harassment (Indonesia: UA 199.18)
On 5 July 2019, the Indonesian Supreme Court rejected the final case review submitted by Baiq Nuril Maknun, a survivor of sexual abuse, and upheld its decision to find her…