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: Human Rights Defender And Journalist Charged (Angola: UA 155.17)
Human rights defender Rafael Marques de Morais and journalist Mariano Brás Lourenço have formally been charged with ‘defamation of a public authority’ and ‘outrage to a sovereign body’ in relation…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Uzbekistani Journalist At Risk Of Extradition (Ukraine: UA 238.17)
Journalist and poet Narzullo Akhunzhonov was detained by Ukrainian border guards on 20 September, following an Interpol Red Notice requested by Uzbekistan. He remains remanded in custody, pending a formal…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! All LGBTI People Detained In Mass Raids Released (Azerbaijan: UA 223.17)
All LGBTI persons detained during the raids carried out across Baku on 23 September have been released. The authorities must ensure prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigations are carried out…
Urgent Action
Victory! New Stay Of Execution For Jeffrey Borden (USA: 500.17)
Earlier this afternoon, the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama issued a new stay of execution in the case of Jeffrey Borden, as part of the lethal…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: No Details About Detained North Koreans In China (China: UA 163.17)
No official information has been made available regarding eight North Koreans that have been detained in China since mid-March 2017. If forcibly returned to North Korea, they are at risk…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Rif Protestors Facing Reprisals In Detention (Morocco: UA 229.17)
Protest leader Nasser Zefzafi and journalist Hamid El Mahdaoui remain in prolonged solitary confinement. Hunger-striking detainees are facing reprisals as their health continues to deteriorate. They face trial in Casablanca.
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Torture Fears For Detained Human Rights Lawyer (Tajikistan: UA 209.15)
Human rights lawyer Buzurgmekhr Yorov is serving a 28-year prison sentence on politically motivated grounds. He is allegedly being subjected to regular beatings – accompanied by threats, insults and harassment…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Poet Commemorating Liu Xiaobo Released (China: UA 201.17)
Poet Wu Mingliang, better known by his pen name “Langzi”, and Peng Heping were released on 22 September after being criminally detained since August. It is believed Wu Mingliang’s detention…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Sudanese Activist Released Without Charge (Sudan: UA 157.17)
Elgassim Mohamed Seed Ahmed has been released from the custody of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) without charge. He was arrested in Saudi Arabia in December 2016 together…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Whereabouts of Detained Chechen Unknown (Russian Federation: UA 208.17)
Imran Salamov was forcibly returned from Belarus to Russia on 5 September. On 11 September, the authorities in Grozny, the Chechen capital, confirmed that he was in their custody but…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Adequate Relief and Reconstruction Needed (Mexico: UA 224.17)
A devastating earthquake hit Mexico on 19 September. Hundreds of people have died, thousands have been made homeless, and essential services have been compromised in various locations. Mexican authorities must…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Saudi Arabian Human Rights Defender Imprisoned (Saudi Arabia: UA 139.16)
Saudi Arabian human rights defender Abdulaziz al-Shubaily was arrested on 17 September to begin serving an eight-year prison sentence that he was handed in 2016. He is a prisoner of…