Urgent Action Network blog

The humble placard: the activist’s best friend. One sad by-product of the recent crackdown on free speech in Russia is the demise of the slogan-on-a-stick. Last week, for example, a small group of protesters holding invisible placards...

Sometimes a case comes along that stops you in your tracks. This happened when I read about the forced sterilisation of indigenous women in Peru. Last month the Public Prosecutor’s office closed the case of thousands of Indigenous...

Back in December I was lucky enough to meet Russian human rights lawyer Rustam Matsev. Rustam had spent the last few months studying in London and approached Amnesty before he was due to leave, asking us if there was anything he could...

Last week, UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve announced he would be publishing guidance on social media use to help people stay on the right side of the law. Let’s hope he doesn’t look to Tunisia for inspiration when determining social...

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...

James Savage is our Human Rights Defenders Programme Manager, supporting and protecting activists around the world who face grave risks conducting their work. Boarding a plane to Dublin a day or two before your birthday usually signals...

When I was 17, I was arrested while peacefully participating in a protest. So when I heard that 17-year-old Azerbaijani activist Shahin Novruzlu had been arrested , it really struck a chord with me. But the similarities start and end...

This SMS action is now closed. Thank you to everyone who added their names - we have handed in the petition to the Indian authorities. Already signed our petition? Thank you! Please now share Soni’s story with friends on Twitter or...

This SMS action is now. Thank you to everyone who added their names - we have now sent the petition to the Iranian authorities. Already signed our petition? Thank you! Please now share Hossein’s story with friends on Twitter or...

....and then two come at once! We've had some fantastic news on two of our long-term cases in the recent weeks. Shi Tao - China Great news! Journalist and poet Shi Tao was released on 23 August 2013. Shi Tao served eight years and nine...

It's a month since the Prime Minister announced he'd write to Obama about Shaker Aamer's case. Since then 10,000 of you have written to Cameron; Frankie Boyle's gone on hunger strike; the US Senate met to discuss closing Guantánamo and...

Imagine spending the majority of your adult life in a space not much bigger than your bathroom. Two paces wide by three deep. For 23 hours a day, every day. This has been the reality for Herman Wallace (and his friend Albert Woodfox)...

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I bring you news about a decline in Herman Wallace’s health. Herman is one of the so-called ‘Angola 3’ and has been incarcerated in solitary confinement for 41 years in Louisiana, USA. On 17...