Changing lives and policies
We free people from prison who are being held unjustly because of who they are or what they believe. We change laws to protect millions of people’s human rights. We transform societies to be more fair, free, and just.
Featured Victory
Marilin* (31) and Yunior* (11), have been released! Before the family’s release this week, Marilin faced an anniversary no parent would want: one year of lockup with her child simply for seeking safety here in the United States.
Marilin and Yunior were featured in our family detention campaign surge – several weeks of sustained actions, from grassroots activism to billboards, to drive attention to the dozens of families who are invisible behind detention walls in Pennsylvania and Texas. We want them and the government to know they’re not forgotten, and that we are working to free them all.Â
Thank you all for your continuing support and activism on these case campaigns. Our collective action shines a bright light on these families and the unlawful detention of them and so many more people detained in immigration facilities, and helps push the needle for their release.
Browse Victories
Victory
Supreme Court Outlaws Juvenile Executions
With its March 1st decision in Roper v. Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court removed the U.S. from the list of…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Illinois passes anti-discrimination Law
On January 11, 2005, Illinois became the 15th US state to amend its state human rights statute to bar discrimination…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Cambodian refugee expresses gratitude to letter-writers
Cambodian authorities accused Sok Yoeun, a member of a Cambodian opposition party, of being responsible for a 1999 rocket…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Death sentences commuted for members of Uzbek pop group
Two lead singers of Al-Vakil, a well-known Uzbek pop group, Danis Vladimirovich Sirazhev and Arsen Albertovich Arutyunyan,…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Tibetan tourist guide thanks activists for his release
On May 13, 1993, Tibetan tourist guide, Gedun Rinchen was arrested after security forces raided his home and found documents…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Turkish Prisoner of Conscience thanks Urgent Action Activists
Eren Keskin, a human rights activist and lawyer, was arrested on June 1, 1995 and sentenced to serve a prison…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Tiananmen Square activist thanks UA activists
Student leader Wang Dan, jailed for his part in the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, spoke at Amnesty…
April 14, 2011
Victory
“I can tell you that these letters work”.
Thanks to all who joined AI in calling for the release of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. He was…
April 14, 2011
Victory
“I knew I was not alone”
Christine Anyanwu, publisher of the Sunday Magazine in Nigeria was detained without charge apparently for publishing…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Urgent Action appeals help Palestinian professor
Fathi Subuh, a university professor, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority’s Preventative Security Service (PSS)on July…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Tunisian human rights lawyer explains importance of Urgent Actions
On the night of February 11, Tunisian security forces ransacked the office of Radhia Nasraoui, a human rights lawyer and…
April 14, 2011
Victory
Honduran human rights defender thanks Urgent Action activists.
Along with two other grassroots leaders in Honduras, Coronado Avila had been receiving death threats – allegedly from armed…
April 14, 2011