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: ARRESTED ACTIVISTS’ WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN (Guinea 67.24)
Share: On This Page On July 9, activists, Oumar Sylla (alias Fonike Mengue) and Mamadou Billo Bah, were arrested by…
July 25, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: FREE ARBITRARILY DETAINED OPPOSITION MEMBERS (Zimbabwe 66.24)
On June 16, police arrested and arbitrarily detained 79 Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) members, including interim party leader, Jameson…
July 25, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: FATHER UNJUSTLY JAILED IN RELATION TO PROTESTS (Egypt Second UA 73.23)
Badr Mohamed, aged 28, has spent over four years arbitrarily detained in connection to the Ramsis Square protests which took…
July 23, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: FISHERMEN ON TRIAL AFTER PROTESTING ENCROACHMENT (Indonesia 68.24)
Ilham Mahmudi and Taufik, two fishermen from North Sumatra Province, face trial amid efforts to save their coastal village from…
July 23, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: TORTURED DISSIDENT RAPPER FACING SPURIOUS CHARGES (Iran 44.24)
Dissident rapper, Toomaj Salehi, is arbitrarily detained in Esfahan central prison, Esfahan province, in relation to his peaceful activities, including…
July 23, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: TEACHER SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR TWEETS (Saudi Arabia 65.24)
On May 29, 2024, Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced 47-year-old teacher, Asaad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, to 20 years…
July 16, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: DEFENDERS SPIED BY AUTHORITIES (Mexico 47.24)
In 2016, staff of the Specialized Sub-Attorney General’s Office for Organized Crime Investigation (SEIDO) of the Attorney General’s Office of…
July 16, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: CUBA: TEACHER IN NEED OF MEDICAL CARE (Cuba 60.24)
Pedro Albert Sánchez, a 68-year-old teacher and human rights defender, has been arbitrarily detained in Cuba since November 22, 2023.…
July 16, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: RELEASE FOUR ARBITRARILY DETAINED BAHA’IS (Yemen 60.23)
On June 21, 2024, the Huthi de facto authorities released Baha’i human rights activist, Abdullah al-Olofi, from over a year…
July 16, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: DISAPPEARANCES OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF POLITICIANS (Pakistan 58.24)
Three family members of political workers from the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were forcibly disappeared in June 2024. Two…
July 16, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: UNJUSTLY JAILED JOURNALIST DENIED HEALTHCARE (Egypt 63.24)
Tawfik Ghanem, a 68-year-old Egyptian journalist, has been arbitrarily detained since May 21, 2021 without trial, pending investigations by the…
July 11, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: SWEDISH-IRANIAN AT GRAVE RISK OF EXECUTION IN IRAN (Iran 38.17)
Swedish-Iranian academic, Ahmadreza Djalali, arbitrarily detained in Iran for over eight years, is at grave risk of execution after exhausting…
July 11, 2024