Answer the call to defend people under immediate threat of grave human rights abuse.
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.
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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. Learn more about writing effective letters and emails.
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” – ODTÜ/Student Organized Pride March in Turkey (UA 83.18)
“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” – Bobomurod Abdullayev, POC from Uzbekistan (UA 232.17)
“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.” – Munther Amira, Palestinian Human Rights Defender (UA 26.18)
Anas al-Beltagy, who has been arbitrarily detained for over nine years solely due to his family links, is being held in incommunicado in the Badr Prison Complex, some 70 km east of Cairo, and is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. He has been denied any visits and other contact with his family for over six years. Since his arrest in December 2013, Egyptian authorities have subjected Anas al-Beltagy to a litany of violations including enforced disappearance and torture. Concerns for his wellbeing and physical and mental health have mounted in recent weeks amid alarming reports emerging from the Badr Prison Complex about prisoner suicides and hunger strikes in protest at their conditions.
Texas intends to execute Andre Thomas, a Black man, on 5 April 2023. He was sentenced to death in 2005 by an all-white jury after his lawyers failed to challenge dubious prosecutorial jury selection tactics, the impartiality of certain jurors, or their client’s competence to stand trial. Andre Thomas has a long history of serious mental disability, including schizophrenia, and was experiencing a prolonged and severe psychosis at the time of the crime. Soon after his arrest, he gouged out his right eye, and has since extracted the other. He is held in a prison psychiatric facility. His current lawyers are challenging his competence for execution.
Members of Eswatini Parliament Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube have been arbitrarily detained since 25 July 2021 on trumped-up charges, including those under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. While in detention, they have been beaten and denied access to their lawyer and medical care. Their prosecution stems from the peaceful exercise of their right to free speech. Their trial concluded on 31 January with judgment reserved indefinitely. They face 10 years in prison should they be found guilty. The politically motivated charges against them must be dropped and they be immediately released.
On 20 February, the Rabat Court of Appeal upheld the conviction against human rights defender Rida Benotmane, imposed by a lower court on 7 November 2022, on charges relating to his social media posts and YouTube videos dating from 2021, in which he criticised the Moroccan government. On appeal, his sentence was reduced from three years to 18 months in prison. He remains held in solitary confinement in Arjate 1 prison in the city of Salé. He must be immediately and unconditionally released as his imprisonment stems solely from the exercise of his right to freedom of expression.
Peace activist Abdul Karim Ali has been arbitrarily detained without charge since 11 August 2022. While the authorities have provided no formal reason for his detention, he was interrogated repeatedly about a video he made on 9 July 2022 denouncing a Cameroonian military chief for allegedly torturing civilians. If this is the basis for his detention, it is a violation of his right to freedom of expression. Two of Abdul Karim’s friends have also been taken into detention alongside him since then. Amnesty International is calling on the Cameroonian authorities to either charge the three men with a recognisable criminal offence or immediately release them.
On 4 February, Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak, a South Sudanese critic, was reportedly arbitrarily arrested, allegedly by armed Kenyan security forces and a South Sudanese man in civilian dress in Nairobi, Kenya where he resides. It is believed he was forcefully returned to Juba, South Sudan and is being held in incommunicado detention at a National Security Service detention facility. The South Sudanese authorities must clarify and reveal Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak’s fate and whereabouts, ensure he has regular access to his family, a lawyer and a doctor, and unless he is charged with an internationally recognisable offence, immediately release him.
The State of Florida is scheduled to execute Donald Dillbeck on 23 February 2023. Now aged 60, he was sentenced to death in 1991 after only eight jurors voted for the death penalty under a law since found unconstitutional. His lawyers are seeking recognition that his neurobehavioral disorder is akin to intellectual disability and should exempt him from execution under constitutional law. They also maintain that the prosecution’s use of his prior conviction for murder to support the death penalty is undermined by new evidence that reveals more mitigating than aggravating factors than the original jury heard in this regard.
At least 14 individuals are at grave risk of execution in Iran in connection with the nationwide protests, including for acts not involving “intentional killing”, in violation of Iran’s obligations under international law. The authorities have violated their fair trial rights and subjected several to torture and other ill-treatment, including floggings, electric shocks, death threats, rape, and other forms of sexual violence. Since December 2022, they have arbitrarily executed at least four young men in connection with protests following similarly grossly unfair trials.
On 2 January, the High Court of Mukaza in Bujumbura, Burundi, sentenced journalist Floriane Irangabiye to 10 years in prison and a fine of one million Burundian francs (USD 482). She was convicted on trumped-up charges of “undermining the integrity of the national territory”. Her lawyers have appealed this decision. Floriane Irangabiye was arrested on 30 August 2022 while on a family visit in Bujumbura. She is currently being held at the Muyinga Prison. Amnesty International believes that Floriane Irangabiye is being prosecuted solely for peacefully exercising her human rights and for her work as a journalist and calls for her immediate and unconditional release.
Native American activist Leonard Peltier has been imprisoned in the USA for over 46 years, some of which was spent in solitary confinement, serving two life sentences for murder despite concerns over the fairness of his trial. He has always maintained his innocence. Now 78 years old, he contracted COVID-19 in 2022 and suffers from several chronic health ailments, including one that is potentially fatal. Not eligible for parole again until 2024, his lawyers submitted a new petition for clemency in 2021. President Biden must grant Leonard Peltier clemency on humanitarian grounds and as a matter of justice.
