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! Activist and Medic Released (Iraq: UA 152.19)
On 13 November 2019, activist and medic Saba Mahdawi was released. Saba went missing after being abducted by an unknown…
November 15, 2019
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…
October 21, 2019
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…
October 15, 2019
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…
October 15, 2019
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…
September 26, 2019
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…
September 11, 2019
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.…
September 10, 2019
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…
September 5, 2019
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…
September 3, 2019
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…
August 8, 2019
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…
August 1, 2019
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…
July 9, 2019