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: DROP CHARGES AND RELEASE GUBAD IBADOGHLU (Azerbaijan Fourth UA 77.23)
Share: On This Page On April 22, 2024, after 274 days in detention, prominent Azerbaijani economist and political activist, Gubad…
May 16, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: POLITICAL ACTIVIST ON HUNGER STRIKE (Serbia 41.24)
Since June 2021, Ecevit Piroğlu, a political activist from Türkiye, has been held unlawfully and arbitrarily in an immigration detention…
May 16, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: RELEASE ARRESTED JOURNALISTS (Azerbaijan 31.24)
At least fourteen journalists have been arrested in Azerbaijan on apparent fabricated charges in retaliation for their critical reporting. Several…
May 14, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: POLITICAL ACTIVIST FACING TRIAL BEFORE MILITARY COURT FOR FACEBOOK POST (Jordan 26.24)
On December 21, 2023, the Jordanian authorities arrested Ayman Sanduka, political activist and mathematics professor, in relation to a Facebook…
May 14, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: EX-MINISTER TO BE TRIED ON BOGUS CHARGES (Tunisia Third UA 2.22)
On April 16, 2024, the Criminal Chamber of the Tunis Court of Cassation confirmed the indictment of ex-justice minister and…
May 9, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: WOMEN AND GIRLS FACING VIOLENT CRACKDOWN (Iran 39.24)
Iranian authorities are waging a “War on Women” to punish defiance of forced veiling in the wake of the “Woman…
May 8, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: PROTECTION WITHOUT CONDITIONS NEEDED FOR CHILD CLIMATE ACTIVISTS (Ecuador Second UA 18.24)
Two months after the 14-year-old climate activist, Leonela Moncayo, and her family suffered an explosion outside of their home, the…
May 8, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: MANAHEL AL-OTAIBI SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS IN (Saudi Arabia Third UA 14.24)
On January 9, 2024, Saudi Arabia’s infamous Specialized Criminal Court sentenced Manahel al-Otaibi, a 29-year-old fitness instructor and women’s rights…
May 8, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: DETAINEES STILL AT RISK (Ecuador Second UA 36.24)
Since at least April 24, 2024, prisons authorities halted the provision of food and medication for detainees in five of…
May 8, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: PROTEST-RELATED EXECUTION IMMINENT FOR TORTURED MAN (Iran 107.23)
Kurdish man, Reza Rasaei, from the Yaresan religious minority, is at imminent risk of execution in relation to the “Woman…
May 8, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: UNION LEADER SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON (Myanmar 38.24)
Thet Hnin Aung, a prominent trade union leader, was sentenced to seven years in prison with hard labor following a…
May 7, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: VENEZUELAN PRISONERS FACE CRITICAL NEGLECT (Venezuela Fourth UA 96.23)
Since February 2024, Juan Carlos Marrufo is enduring inhumane prison conditions in the Venezuelan prison, Rodeo I, and has been…
May 3, 2024