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! – Palestinian NGO Worker Released (Israel/OPT: UA 72.18)
On 17 July, Abdul Razeq Farraj, Finance and Administration Director at the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), a development NGO based in Ramallah in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT),…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Whereabouts of Community Activist Unknown (Angola: UA 152.18)
Joaquim Costa Zangui, the National Youth Secretary of the Democratic Bloc, was abducted by unknown men on 12 August. He went missing a day after he had presided over the…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! – Court Overturns Conviction of Three Youth (Angola: UA 115.18)
Afonso S. Muatchipuculo (22), António J. Fernando (18) and Justino H. Valente (21) were released on 17 July. The three youth had been sentenced to seven months in prison by…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Prisoner Of Conscience On Hunger Strike (Egypt: UA 129.17)
Human rights defender Hanan Badr el-Din has started a hunger strike over a court decision on 5 August to renew her detention for 45 more days. Hanan Badr el-Din, who…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Indigenous Activist Slandered and Stigmatized (Venezuela: UA 144.18)
Military official accuses Venezuelan Indigenous environmental rights defender Lisa Henrito of “treason” – on national television – due to her activism in the defence of the Pemón Indigenous People’s traditional…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Threats Against Indigenous Rights Defenders (Malaysia: UA 22.17)
Indigenous human rights defenders face sustained intimidation and threats of physical violence in light of their continuing efforts to protect their land. Incidents of harassment by a private company developing…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Activist Sentenced to One Year, Others Released (Niger: UA 30.18)
Three activists, Moussa Tchangari, Ali Idrissa and Nouhou Arzika were released on 24 July after being handed a three-month suspended sentence. A fourth activist, Lirwana Abdourahmane, was sentenced to one…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Women Human Rights Defender Killed (Guatemala: UA 97.18)
Human rights defender Juana Raymundo went missing on the night of 27 July in the Quiché department in northwest Guatemala and her dead body was discovered the next day. She…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Prisoner Must Remain Hospitalized Post-Surgery (Russian Federation: UA 138.18)
24-year old detainee Ibragim Yangulbaev is gravely ill and was being denied essential post-surgery health care in pre-trial detention until 28 July when he was hospitalised. He must be allowed…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Journalist Accused of “Justification of Terrorism” (Russian Federation: UA 142.18)
Victor Korb, a human rights defender and journalist, is being unjustly prosecuted for “public justification of terrorism” on account of publishing the final statement of the person whose rights he…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! – Indigenous Leader Ends 2 Month Hunger Strike (Chile: UA 75.18)
After nearly two months on a hunger strike, Mapuche Indigenous spiritual leader Machi Celestino Córdova is granted access to his ceremonial altar to carry out a renewal ceremony, essential to…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: 42 Months in Prison for Forcibly Returned Activist (China: UA 259.15)
According to a Chinese media report, Dong Guangping was sentenced to 42 months in prison almost one year after his trial in July 2017. No notification about the trial or…