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 Update: Poland’s President Approves Judicial Overhaul Bills (Poland: UA 173.17)
Share: On This Page We have received updated information regarding this case and require no further action from the Urgent…
December 21, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Egypt Continues To Arrest Government Critics (Egypt: UA 277.17)
On 16 November, security agents in plain clothes arrested Egyptian social media figure Islam al-Refaei. The Egyptian authorities ordered him…
December 20, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Venezuela To Run Out Of Antiretrovirals In 2018 (Venezuela: UA 280.17)
The Venezuelan government has reportedly not yet signed an urgently needed order for the purchase of vital antiretroviral medication in…
December 20, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Violence Against Protestors Escalates (Honduras: UA 264.17)
At least 20 people have reportedly been killed, hundreds detained and others injured following the violent repression of protests regarding…
December 20, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Victory! Palestinian Human Rights Defender Released (Israel/OPT: UA 154.16)
Palestinian human rights defender and media coordinator for prisoners’ rights group Addameer, Hasan Safadi, was released on 7 December from…
December 18, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Women’s Rights Defender Threatened With Death (Haiti: UA 272.17)
Sanièce Petit Phat, a Haitian women and girls’ rights defender, has reported receiving death threats because of her work on…
December 13, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Killings Of Land Claimant Leaders (Colombia: UA 268.17)
Two land claimant leaders of collective Afro-descendent territories in Curvaradó, Jiguamiandó, Piedeguita and Mancilla in Chocó have been killed by…
December 12, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Court Rejects Activist’s Appeal (Russian Federation: UA 209.17)
We have received updated information regarding this case and require no further action from the Urgent Action Network. Thank you…
December 11, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Sahrawi Prisoner’s Health Quickly Deteriorating (Morocco: UA 71.16)
Since his transfer to Ain Sbaa 1 Local Prison, Abdeljalil Laaroussi’s health is critically deteriorating. During the Gdim Izik mass…
December 11, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Prisoner Subjected To Forced Psychiatric Treatment (Russian Federation: UA 157.16)
Stanyslav Klykh, a Ukrainian national detained in Russia in 2014, has been subjected to forced psychiatric treatment by prison authorities.…
December 8, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action: Bahamian Man At Risk After Detention (Bahamas: UA 265.17)
After being detained by immigration authorities for more than three months, the whereabouts of a Bahamian-born man, Jean Rony Jean-Charles,…
December 8, 2017
Urgent Action
Urgent Action Update: Bolivian NGO And Staff Under Financial Threat (Bolivia: UA 99.17)
The Bolivian Documentation and Information Centre (CEDIB) reported new threats to their human rights work and its staff members’ financial…
December 8, 2017