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?
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.
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.
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.
Browse Urgent Actions
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: TIKTOKER JAILED FOR CRITICIZING THE PRESIDENT (Angola 117.23)
Share: On This Page On August 13, Angolan TikToker, Ana da Silva Miguel (also known as Neth Nahara) was arrested in Luanda, capital city of Angola. On August 14, she…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: ARBITRARILY DETAINED BAHA’IS MUST BE RELEASED (Yemen 60.23)
On May 25, armed Huthi forces stormed a peaceful gathering of Baha’is in Sana’a, Yemen, arbitrarily detaining 17 members of the Baha’i community. Since then, 11 individuals have been released…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: 4 ACTIVISTS SENTENCED FOR SOLIDARITY PROTEST (Angola 115.23)
On September 16, four activists- Adolfo Campos, Abraão Pedro Santos, Gilson Morreira, and Hermenegildo Victor José – were arrested hours before taking part in a demonstration in solidarity with motorcycle…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: REVEAL FATE OF DISAPPEARED JOURNALIST (Iraq 118.23)
On October 24, 2021, journalist Bassem al-Zaak was abducted while he was live-streaming a sit-in organized by a political bloc in Baghdad, in his capacity as a journalist, to protest…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: ASYLUM SEEKERS DENIED SHELTER (Belgium 113.23)
In Belgium, at least 2,600 people seeking asylum are destitute due to the Belgian government’s failure to provide them with shelter and other essential goods and services. Many have no…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: OPPOSITION FIGURE ARBITRARILY DETAINED (Tunisia 114.23)
On October 3, 2023, days after expressing her interest in running for the next presidential elections, security forces arrested opposition figure Abir Moussi. She had been trying to submit an…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: CONCERNS ABOUT NAVALNY’S WHEREABOUTS (Russia 99.23)
Aleksei Navalny’s fate and whereabouts have been unknown since his lawyers last heard of him on December 5. On December 11, officials at the penal colony where he was serving…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Spanish National Forcibly Disappeared by Russia (Russia 69.23)
Russian authorities have forcibly disappeared Mariano GarcÃa Calatayud, a 75-year-old Spanish volunteer humanitarian worker whom their forces had abducted from occupied Kherson, in Ukraine, in 2022. They held him incommunicado,…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: JURY VOTED FOR LIFE, STATE RESETS EXECUTION (USA 116.23)
Kenneth Smith is scheduled to be executed in Alabama on January 25, 2024. His jury voted for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, but the judge imposed a death…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: JAILED ACADEMIC’S HEALTH DETERIORATES (Azerbaijan 77.23)
Gubad Ibadoghlu is a renowned political economist and civil activist. On July 23, 2023, the Azerbaijani authorities detained him on fabricated charges of the production, acquisition, or sale of counterfeit…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: CLIMATE DISPLACED PEOPLE NEED A HOME URGENTLY (Mexico 108.23)
On November 13, 69 people from “El Bosque” community (Tabasco) were forced to leave a temporary shelter in Frontera Village due to inhumane conditions and treatments. They were placed there…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: UN EXPERTS ALARMED OVER IMPUNITY IN CHILE (Chile 91.23)
On November 27, 2023, UN special rapporteurs on peaceful assembly and association and on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions publicly called on Chilean authorities to “advance the prosecution and sanction…