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: Chechen Human Rights Defender Jailed (Russian Federation: UA 5.18)
On 18 March the Shali City Court sentenced Oyub Titiev, head of the Memorial Human Rights Center’s office in Grozny, Chechnya, to four years in penal colony under fabricated drug-related…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Detained Uighur Has Nervous Breakdown (China: UA 46.18)
Hankezi Zikeli is detained in a “transformation-through-education” centre in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and is believed to have suffered a nervous breakdown. An aunt of Gulchehra Hoja, a…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Health Concerns for Prisoner of Conscience (Viet Nam: UA 30.19)
Prisoner of conscience Huỳnh Trương Ca continues to suffer from several illnesses behind bars including lung disease, stomach problem and diabetes. The authorities at his previous facility failed to provide…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Police Protects Women’s Day Rally (Ukraine: UA: 31.19)
The International Women’s Day rally organised by human rights defender Vitalina Koval in Uzhgorod, western Ukraine, on 8 March was a success. Participants were well protected by the police and…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: “Natural Security” Trials End in Life Sentences (Oman: UA 121.18)
Oman sentenced six defendants to life imprisonment for “infringement of the country’s independence or unity or the sanctity of its territory” after grossly unfair trials. The charges were based on…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Tortured Conservationists Face Death Penalty (Iran: UA 33.19)
Eight detained conservationists could face the death penalty or long prison sentences, following a grossly unfair trial in which they were accused of trumped-up spying charges. Their charges stem solely…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Mexican Congress Approved Security Reform (Mexico: UA 212.18)
On 28 February, Mexican Congress approved a controversial Constitutional amendment to introduce a “National Guard” in Mexico. The bill originally proposed was substantially changed after heavy criticism by human rights…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Turkey Must Release Civil Society Figures (Turkey: UA 35.19)
Osman Kavala (pictured below), Yiğit Aksakoğlu and 14 other prominent civil society figures are facing life in prison after a court accepted an indictment against them on 4 March. They…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Palestinian Lawmaker Released (Israel/OPT: UA 187.17)
On 28 February 2019, Palestinian lawmaker and prominent political figure Khalida Jarrar was released from HaSharon prison in central Israel. She had spent 20 months in administrative detention without charge…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Poet Acquitted and Released (Somaliland: UA 17.19)
Abdirahman Ibrahim Adan, a poet in Somaliland, was released on 25 February. He had been arrested and detained on 12 January after reciting a poem the previous day in which…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Mexican Congress Boosts Arbitrary Detentions (Mexico: UA 202.18)
Despite national and international outcry, Mexican Congress passed a Constitutional amendment that force judges to order pre-trial detention in cases involving a broad series of crimes. Contrary to international law,…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Death Sentences Commuted to Life Imprisonment (Egypt: UA 91.16)
On 26 February 2019, Egypt’s Supreme Military Court of Appeals formally accepted an appeal on the two death sentences of Ahmad Amin Ghazali (pictured below) and Abdul Basir Abdul Rauf.…