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.
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: WATER DEFENDER KILLED (Honduras 85.24)
Share: On This Page On Saturday, September 14, environmental defender and coordinator of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of…
September 20, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: JAILED DOCTOR NEEDS URGENT MEDICAL CARE (Burundi 82.24)
Dr. Christophe Sahabo, a Burundian doctor, was arrested on April 1, 2022 over a dispute regarding the management of Kira…
September 18, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: PENSIONS REFORM MUST PREVAIL (Argentina 79.24)
The President Javier Milei vetoed on September 2, 2024, a bill that had been passed by Congress to improve pensions…
September 17, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: TWO ACTIVISTS FACED UNJUST CONVICTION (China Second UA 44.22)
#MeToo activist, Sophia Huang Xueqin, and labor activist, Wang Jianbing, were arrested on September 19, 2021. On June 14, 2024,…
September 17, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: EXECUTION WOULD VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL LAW (USA 81.24)
Marcellus Williams, a 55-year-old Black man, is scheduled to be executed in Missouri on September 24, 2024. He was convicted…
September 17, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: END TORTUROUS ISOLATION OF KALESNIKAVA (Third UA Belarus 147.20)
Maryia Kalesnikava has been arbitrarily detained for four years for her prominent role in the 2020 election and subsequent peaceful…
September 13, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: ERITREANS AT IMMINENT RISK OF FORCED RETURN (Türkiye 78.24)
Hundreds of Eritrean nationals are at imminent risk of forcible return to Eritrea where they would face a real risk…
September 13, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: WOMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER AT RISK OF EXECUTION (Iran 80.24)
Human rights defender, Sharifeh Mohammadi, is at risk of execution after a Revolutionary Court in Rasht, Gilan province, sentenced her…
September 12, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: MANAHEL AL-OTAIBI SUBJECTED TO TORTURE IN SAUDI PRISON (Fourth UA Saudi Arabia 14.24)
After one month of incommunicado detention, Manahel al-Otaibi contacted her family on September 1, 2024, and told them she was…
September 12, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: RELEASE ACTIVISTS FROM ARBITRARY DETENTION (Second UA Angola 115.23)
On September 16, 2023, four activists – Adolfo Campos, Abraão Pedro Santos, Gilson Morreira, and Hermenegildo Victor José – were…
September 11, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: OPPOSITION FIGURE HANDED TWO YEAR SENTENCE (Tunisia Third UA 114.23)
On August 5, 2024, the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced opposition figure, Abir Moussi, to two years in prison…
September 6, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: FORMER HEAD OF TRUTH COMMISSION ARBITRARILY DETAINED (Tunisia 76.24)
On August 1, 2024, a Tunis investigative judge ordered the pre-trial detention of prominent human rights defender, Sihem Bensedrine, who…
September 6, 2024