Urgent Action Network blog

Let’s all take a trip down memory lane to our Sesame Street days and engage in the following exercise of “Which One Doesn’t Belong”: The only soldier who was tried in the death of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq – no prison...

Last week I heard first-hand from one of the 1000s of people whose families have suffered human rights abuse in Sri Lanka. It’s an opportunity that the Sri Lankan authorities did their utmost to deny David Cameron and other leaders...

Yorm Bopha, a Cambodian activist, who was imprisoned on false charges to keep her quiet, has been released after more than 85,000 people signed our global petition including nearly 18,000 from the UK. ‘Thank you to Amnesty...

For Boeung Kak Lake in central Phnom Penh, Cambodia, it took over three years. The developers kept working to fill it. Eventually, the lake flooded and destroyed nearby homes. What had been a thriving district was turned into a giant...

Imagine you live in a small village, and a big chunk of the village’s land is stolen by an illegal settlement, accompanied by an occupying army. Then, not satisfied with stealing your land, the occupiers also steal your water supply...

Back in 2006, we issued what must be our biggest urgent action ever: ‘ victims of human rights violations in all countries ’. A little vague, you might think. But at that point, the US could have stalled the creation of the UN Human...

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, imprisoned member of Russian punk group Pussy Riot, has disappeared. She was reportedly put into a car on the 22 October, apparently to be transferred to another penal colony from the one she was held at...

I’m often asked if we have any good news updates, or success stories. Quite rightly, we are constantly looking for proof that what we are doing works, and that ‘good’ will come of our letter writing. Over the years, my reply has tended...