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! Court Lifts Ban on Anti-War Protestors (Turkey: UA 66.18)
A Turkish court has lifted travel bans on 30 students facing terrorism-related charges for taking part in a peaceful protest on 19 March. The court rejected the students’ allegations of…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Singer-Song Rriter Activist Sentenced (China: UA 245.17)
Activist Xu Lin was sentenced to three years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” on 7 December 2018. The singer-songwriter has composed and published songs online about his…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Two Prisoners at Risk of Imminent Execution (Belarus: UA 17.18)
There is grave concern that the only two known prisoners on death row in Belarus, Aliaksandr Zhylnikau and Viachaslau Sukharko, are at risk of imminent execution.
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Sudanese Activist Deported, at Risk of Torture (Sudan: UA 205.18)
Sudanese political activist Mohamed Hassan Alim Shareef was deported from Egypt to Sudan on 9 October. Officers from Sudan’s National Intelligence Service (NISS) arrested him upon his arrival in Sudan.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Risk of Imminent Execution for Hong Kong Citizen (China: UA 208.18)
The death sentence of Hong Kong citizen Wu Zongxi is currently under review by the Supreme People’s Court. If approved, the authorities will sign an order to carry out his…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Two More Prisoners Executed (Belarus: UA 195.17)
Share: On This Page We have received updated information regarding this case and require no further action from the Urgent Action Network. Thank you to all those who sent appeals.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Land Claimant Leader at Risk (Colombia: 207.18)
Enrique Cabezas, leader of the collective of Afro-descendent territory in Curvaradó (Chocó department, western Colombia), has received several threats in response to his work defending the ancestral territory and the…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Saudi Activists Face the Death Penalty (Saudi Arabia: UA 201.18)
Saudi activist Israa al-Ghomgham and four other individuals on trial at the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) face the death penalty for charges related to their participation in peaceful protests.
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: 59 People Deprived of Their Liberty (Venezuela: UA 204.18)
On 21 November, the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice overturned an order issued a year earlier for the release of 59 Colombian nationals detained during a security operation in 2016.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Activist Released on Bail After Months in Detention (Bangladesh: UA 146.18)
Shahidul Alam, photographer and outspoken social activist, has been freed on permanent bail after spending more than 100 days behind bars for comments he made in an interview with Al-Jazeera…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Opposition Youth Leader Still Detained One Year On (Democratic Republic of Congo: UA 197.18)
Opposition youth leader Christian Lumu Lukusa has been in arbitrary detention since 22 November 2017, when he was arrested in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He was arrested…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Workers Arrested for Trying to Set Up Trade Union (China: UA 200.18)
Three factory workers and an NGO worker have been arrested for attempting to set up a trade union in China. In addition to restricted access to their lawyers, the four…