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 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.…
October 3, 2017
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…
September 29, 2017
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…
September 29, 2017
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…
September 29, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Court Blocks Execution, Decision Awaited (USA: UA 216.17)
The US Supreme Court prevented the State of Georgia from executing Keith Tharpe on 26 September, to give the Justices…
September 28, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Human Rights Lawyer Detained In Dire Conditions (Egypt: UA 210.17)
Ibrahim Metwaly, human rights lawyer and co-founder of the Families of the Disappeared in Egypt group, was detained on 10…
September 28, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Embassy Must Urgently Issue Diversity Visas (USA: UA 221.17)
Yemenis who left everything behind to come to the US have been stuck in Malaysia for months because of the…
September 27, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Pakistani Journalist Attacked While Driving Home (Pakistan: UA 220.17)
Pakistani journalist Matiullah Jan was driving home with his two children on 24 September when he was attacked by two…
September 25, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Victim Of Acid Attack Faces Defamation (Indonesia: UA 217.17)
Novel Baswedan, a human rights defender and prominent investigator for the independent Corruption Eradication Commission, is facing criminal defamation proceedings…
September 25, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Dr. Mudawi Unconditionally Released (Sudan: UA 26.17)
Sudanese human rights defender Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam was released on 29 August after the Sudan government dropped all charges…
September 25, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Activists Risk Prison After Peaceful Protest (Democratic Republic of Congo: UA 218.17)
Share: On This Page Congolese pro-democracy activists Jean Mulenda, Patrick Mbuya, Jean-Pierre Tshibitshabu and Eric Omari were sentenced to eight…
September 22, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Charges Against Two Media Workers Dropped (Myanmar: UA 137.17)
While newspaper editor Kyaw Min Swe has been released on bail, he remains on trial for “online defamation’’ for a…
September 20, 2017