About individuals at risk

Individuals at risk of violations of their human rights are at the heart of Amnesty's work. The organisation has gained widespread praise and recognition through tireless campaigning by its members. They have been supported by a dedicated group of staff and volunteers,  championing the rights of those who endure first hand the failure to respect human rights.

In the five decades since Amnesty was founded, we have taken action together on behalf of prisoners of conscience, human rights defenders and the "disappeared". We have also campaigned on behalf of many other individuals at risk of unfair trials, torture, house demolitions, denial of the right to education, and other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

Amnesty supporters have sent appeal letters and solidarity cards. We have lobbied government and the press to highlight cases and address issues.

We have raised vital funds to enable Amnesty to pursue our work for individuals at risk. We can recall many successes in our efforts to defend individuals' human rights, particularly the effect that Amnesty's global urgent action appeals have had in thousands of cases.

There are 12,000 members in Amnesty's urgent action network in the UK (80,000 worldwide). These are members of Amnesty groups and individual supporters who send appeals within hours and days of us being alerted to cases of individuals in immediate and often life threatening danger. We estimate that following urgent action, the circumstances improve in around one-third of the cases.