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: JOURNALIST ARRESTED UNDER STATE OF EMERGENCY (Ethiopia 20.24)
Share: On This Page On November 13, 2023, Belay Manaye, co- founder and presenter of Ethio News, a YouTube based…
March 26, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: PROTESTER RISKS DECADES IN PRISON FOR T-SHIRT (Egypt 90.23)
Arbitrarily detained protester Mahmoud Hussein faces up to 25 years in prison simply for wearing a T-shirt with an anti-torture…
March 25, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: LAST CHARGE AGAINST LEILA DE LIMA CONTINUES (Philippines 48.22)
Court proceedings on the third and final bogus charge against human rights defender and former Philippine senator, Leila de Lima,…
March 22, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: POLITICIANS UNJUSTLY HELD FOR OVER A YEAR (Tunisia 52.23)
Opposition politicians Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, Khayyam Turki, Issam Chebbi, Ghazi Chaouachi, Ridha Belhaj, and Abdelhamid Jelassi have been arbitrarily detained…
March 22, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: THREE INDIVIDUALS CRIMINALISED FOR POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA (Argentina 19.24)
Nahuel Morandini, Roque Villegas, and Lucía González are prosecuted only for expressing opinions about a public figure on social media.…
March 22, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: STOP PUNISHING WOMEN PROTESTERS (Afghanistan 112.23)
Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, women protesting Taliban’s draconian policies have been forcibly disappeared, arbitrarily arrested,…
March 22, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: DROP CHARGES AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER (Gambia 40.22)
In May 2022, the Gambian President accused human rights defender, Madi Jobarteh, of being a “troublemaker” who wants to bring…
March 14, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: CHILD CLIMATE JUSTICE ACTIVIST INTIMIDATED IN HER HOME (Ecuador 18.24)
14-year-old climate activist, Leonela Moncayo, reported that on February 26, there was an explosion outside her home caused by an…
March 14, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: RELEASE ARBITRARILY DETAINED JUDGE (Yemen 16.24)
Abdulwahab Mohammad Qatran, a Yemeni judge critical of the Huthi de facto authorities, was arbitrarily arrested by members of the…
March 14, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: TORTURED MAN FACING PROTEST-RELATED EXECUTION (Iran 107.23)
Kurdish man Reza Rasaei, from the Yaresan religious minority, is at imminent risk of execution in relation to the “Woman…
March 14, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: JOURNALIST RELEASED AFTER THREE YEARS’ IMPRISONMENT (Outcome for Iraq 28.21)
NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS. On February 17, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq…
March 12, 2024
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: STOP WITHHOLDING DETAINEES’ MEDICAL CARE (Venezuela 96.23)
On February 19, 2024, Juan Carlos Marrufo was unexpectedly transferred to Venezuelan prison Rodeo I, almost three years into his…
March 12, 2024