Urgent action network

Every day Amnesty receives information about prisoners and other individuals in danger around the world.

The urgent action network provides a swift worldwide mobilisation of people ready to take rapid action at short notice when somebody is in immediate danger, or when there is a human rights crisis.

How does it work?

Researchers at Amnesty's headquarters compile an urgent action case sheet with details of the individuals concerned. This includes information about their situation, recommendations of what to include in the appeal and how to word it. It also has contact details of government officials. This case-sheet is rapidly sent to our national offices for immediate distribution to the network.

Professor Rossi was the subject of the first urgent action, issued on 19 March 1973. A prisoner of conscience in Brazil under the military regime, then a human rights activist - his story has set a powerful model for the tens of thousands of urgent actions that were to follow.

The network may be mobilised in an effort to protect a prisoner from torture or any form of ill treatment, medical neglect, unfair trial, the judicial death penalty or extra judicial execution; or from repatriation where the forcible return to a person's country may lead to further human rights abuses.

An urgent action can be issued in cases showing a pattern or series of violations, where the urgent action focuses on protecting a specific social group (ethnic, religious, political or occupational).

Occasionally, an urgent action will be issued to ask the network to appeal on behalf of a test case of human rights violations, which could have far-reaching implications to our work.

Letter writing tips

Get some tips from the Urgent Action team on how to write effective appeal letter - check out the letter writing guide