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: WOMAN DISAPPEARED AMID POSSIBLE FEMICIDE (Argentina: UA 67.23)
Share: On This Page Cecilia Strzyzowski (28 years old) has been missing since June 1. She was last seen with her husband, César Sena, in Resistencia, Province of Chaco, Argentina.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: IMPRISONED NURSE’S CONDITION DETERIORATES (Russian Federation: UA 28.23)
Irina Danilovich, a nurse and human rights activist from Russian-occupied Crimea is still being denied healthcare. She was abducted by Russian security officials in April 2022 and sentenced to seven…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: ARBITRARY DETAINEE DYING FROM NEGLECT(Venezuela: UA 55.23)
Guillermo Zárraga, a 59-year-old Venezuelan engineer and a former oil industry unionist, was arbitrarily detained in November 2020 at his home by officers from the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: JAILED EGYPTIAN PHYSICIAN MUST BE RELEASED (Saudi Arabia: UA 71.23)
On May 23, the Supreme Court in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, upheld the 10-year prison sentence of Egyptian national and physician Dr. Sabri Shalaby. The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: EXECUTION SET OF MAN WITH MENTAL DISABILITY (USA: UA 68.23)
Johnny Johnson, a 45-year-old man long diagnosed with severe mental disabilities, including schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, is scheduled to be executed in Missouri on 1 August 2023 for the 2002…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: MAN AT RISK OF PROTEST-RELATED EXECUTION (Pakistan: UA 63.23)
On May 11th, 2023, Imran Riaz Khan, a Pakistani YouTuber and TV anchor, was detained and arrested by the Sialkot police, at the Sialkot International Airport. It was only after…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: RELEASE YORUBA PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE (Cuba: 61.23)
Hundreds of Cubans remain imprisoned for participating in island-wide protests on 11 July 2021. The Cuban judiciary, which is not independent of the government, routinely rubberstamps politically motivated accusations without…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: BILL CONTINUES TO THREATEN INDIGENOUS RIGHTS (Brazil: UA 57.23 FU)
Bill 2903/2023 can be voted at any moment by Brazilian Senate. The bill – approved on May 30 by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies – seeks to make profound changes…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: WATER DEFENDERS KILLED (Honduras: UA 003.23)
Oquelà DomÃnguez, brother of defenders Aly and Reynaldo DomÃnguez was killed in the community of Guapinol (department of Colón, northern Honduras) on June 15, 2023. Five months earlier, defenders Aly…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: TEACHERS UNION LEADER GET DEATH THREATS (Angola: UA 54.23)
On February 27th, the National Union of Higher Education Teachers (SINPES) in Angola started a strike demanding better working conditions and fulfillment of the promises made by the government. Since…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: RELEASE THE KEMPIR-ABAD DEFENDANTS (Kyrgyzstan: UA 56.23)
RELEASE THE KEMPIR-ABAD DEFENDANTS A group of individuals have been arrested on charges related to their participation in peaceful protests in Kempir-Abad against a controversial new border agreement with Uzbekistan.…
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: 16 BAHA’IS FORCIBLY DISAPPEARED IN YEMEN (Yemen: UA 60.23)
On May 25th 2023, armed Huthi forces stormed a peaceful gathering of Baha’is in Sana’a, Yemen. They detained and forcibly disappeared 17 individuals, among them five women. One individual has…