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! Tunisian Activist Acquitted of All Charges (Tunisia: UA 125.19)
On 19 September 2019, a court in Tunis acquitted 18-year-old activist Maissa al-Oueslati of all charges after facing trumped-up charges that could have resulted in her imprisonment for up to…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Ahmed H. Allowed to Return Home (Cyprus: UA 88.19)
Ahmed H. was finally able to return home to his family in Cyprus on 28 September. He had been separated from his Cypriot wife and two daughters for almost four…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Early Release for Former Child Soldier (Myanmar: UA 132.18)
Aung Ko Htwe, former child soldier, was released from prison a few months early on 6 September 2019, likely due to good behavior. Arrested in August 2017 after giving a…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Attacks on Human Rights Defender Investigated (Colombia: UA 91.19)
On 28 August, Colombia’s National Prosecutor agreed with Danelly Estupiñán to run a national investigation aimed at finding those responsible for the different security incidents putting Danelly’s life in danger.…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov Finally Free (Russian Federation: UA 79.19)
Crimean Tatar, Edem Bekirov, is finally free and reunited with his family in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, following a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine on 7 September. Edem Bekirov was…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Trans Asylum Seeker Freed From Detention (USA: UA 108.18)
Alejandra Barrera, a transgender Salvadorian activist held in USA immigration detention since 2017, was released late Friday 6 September 2019. We will continue to monitor the status of her asylum…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Deported Mother Allowed to Return to Family (Argentina: UA 39.19)
Vanessa Gómez Cueva, a Peruvian mother of three who was deported seven months ago from Argentina with her 2-year-old son and forced to leave her other two children behind, received…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Prominent Bedouin Leader Released (Israel/OPT: UA 4.19)
On 22 July 2019, 70-year-old human rights defender and prominent Bedouin leader Sheikh Sayyah Abu Mdeighim al-Turi was released from Maasiyahu Prison, in the city of Ramle in central Israel.…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Charges Against Mauritanian Bloggers Dropped (Mauritania: UA 49.19)
All the charges against bloggers Cheikh Jiddou and Abderrahmane Weddady were dropped by a judge, who also dismissed the case against them, on 29 July. Their travel and identification documents…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Attacks on Ysati Community Under Investigation (Paraguay: UA 32.19)
The Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation into the March attacks against the Ysati indigenous community “3 de Julio”. The Paraguayan Institute for Indigenous Affairs (INDI) provided them with humanitarian assistance…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Supreme Court Suspends All Execution Warrants (Sri Lanka: UA 45.19)
The Sri Lankan Supreme Court, while hearing the petitions to halt executions of death row prisoners, suspended all execution warrants until 29 October, the next date of hearing. This is…
Victory
Urgent Action Victory! Detainee Released (Venezuela: UA 55.19)
Gilber Caro, who was disappeared, arbitrary detained and held incommunicado for almost two months, was released on 17 June 2019, prior to a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights…