Changing lives and policies
We free people from prison who are being held unjustly because of who they are or what they believe. We change laws to protect millions of people’s human rights. We transform societies to be more fair, free, and just.
Featured Victory
Marilin* (31) and Yunior* (11), have been released! Before the family’s release this week, Marilin faced an anniversary no parent would want: one year of lockup with her child simply for seeking safety here in the United States.
Marilin and Yunior were featured in our family detention campaign surge – several weeks of sustained actions, from grassroots activism to billboards, to drive attention to the dozens of families who are invisible behind detention walls in Pennsylvania and Texas. We want them and the government to know they’re not forgotten, and that we are working to free them all.
Thank you all for your continuing support and activism on these case campaigns. Our collective action shines a bright light on these families and the unlawful detention of them and so many more people detained in immigration facilities, and helps push the needle for their release.
Browse Victories
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! – Convicted Environmental Activists Released (Cambodia: UA 279.17)
Two environmental activists and prisoners of conscience, convicted of and sentenced on trumped-up charges based on their peaceful activism, were released after serving five months out of their 1-year prison…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! – Turkish Medical Association Leaders Released (Turkey: UA 16.18)
All 11 doctors who are members of the Turkish Medical Association’s Central Council, detained on 30 January following the association’s statement calling for an end to Turkey’s military operation in…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! – Governor Stays Execution After Juror Plea (USA: UA 13.18)
On 8 February, the Ohio Governor issued an eight-month reprieve for Raymond Tibbetts, who was due to be executed on 13 February. The decision came after he received a letter in…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! – Student in Solitary Confinement Released (Sudan: UA 203.17)
Naser Aldeen Mukhtar Mohamed, the former chairperson of the Darfur Students Association at the Holy Quran University, was released without charge on 28 January. He was arrested on 22 August…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! – Two Memorial Activists Released on Bail (China: UA 7.18)
Independent writers Li Xuewen and Zhan Huidong (aka “Xiaozhang” or “Headmaster”), detained due to their participation in the July 2017 seaside memorial for late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo,…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! – Supreme Court Blocks Execution in Alabama (USA: UA 11.18)
The US Supreme Court granted a stay of execution in the case of Vernon Madison who was scheduled to be executed in Alabama on the evening of 25 January. The…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! – Opposition Member Released From Sudan Prison (Sudan: UA 2.18)
Radwan Daoud, a dual national of the US and Sudan, was released without charge from Kober Prison on 18 January. He was arrested on 6 December 2017 and first detained…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! – Peaceful Protestors And Activists Released (Egypt: UA 255.17)
Human rights activist and former Prisoner of Conscience Mahienour el-Masryand labour activist Moatasem Medhat acquitted of all charges by Montazah Misdemeanour Court of Appeals in Alexandria. They were respectively released on 16 January…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Lesotho Soldiers Acquitted of Mutiny Charges (Lesotho: UA 263.15)
A Military Court Martial acquitted 22 Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) Soldiers of mutiny charges, while a High Court had ordered a permanent stay of prosecution for one LDF soldier a…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Tatar Activist And Prisoner Of Conscience Released (Russian Federation: UA 12.15)
On 27 December 2017, Tatar activist Rafis Kashapov was released from prison after having served the full three-year sentence for his criticism of Russia’s involvement in the armed conflict in…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Missing Bangladeshi Academic Returned Home (Bangladesh: UA 252.17)
Mubashar Hasan, a well-known Bangladeshi academic who went missing and was feared to have been subject to an enforced disappearance, was returned home on 22 December, after 44 days.
Victory
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 Ketziot Prison in Israel. He spent nearly a year and…