…and thank you for visiting our website!
We are a group of dedicated volunteers based in German speaking countries writing letters mostly in English in response to Urgent Actions being issued by the international researchers of Amnesty International. We write letters to protest against and try to prevent grave human rights violations as fast as possible. Usually we respond within 24 hours.
Us writing letters
We hope you’ll find the information on the following pages interesting and informative.
How does writing Urgent Actions work?
Urgent action is based on a simple idea: when someone is in immediate danger of serious abuse, the legal body responsible for perpetrating or failing to prevent that abuse will receive thousands of faxes, emails and letters from every part of the globe. This may be a government. Those messages tell the responsible party that the world is watching, and create pressure to stop the abuse.
The network issues about 400 new cases and up to 300 updates each year, addressing not only torture but also death threats, the death penalty, ‘enforced disappearance’, forced repatriation, extrajudicial execution, secret detention, forced evictions and a range of other grave human rights violations.
Some critical human rights situations require a particularly quick response from our supporters around the world. In those emergency situations, which may be caused by armed conflict or other humanitarian emergencies, Amnesty International activates its Crisis Action Network.
Even though only in German, perhaps you’ll enjoy watching this 1 minute clip Wie gewöhnliche Menschen etwas Außergewöhnliches leisten and please see our success stories page.
King as pen-pal?
Everyone can learn how to write polite letters. Background information is converted into a fast help appeal. Please find more information on the About Us page.
Amnesty International’s Urgent Action Network is made up of an estimated 150.000 people around the world with diverse backgrounds who are outraged by injustice and prepared to act swiftly at critical moments to stop it.
For many years, the network has protected people from torture and ill-treatment, obtained the release of people who were wrongly – and sometimes secretly – detained, and secured access to medical treatment or legal counsel for prisoners. Sometimes it has even saved lives.
Perhaps you’d like to check the analysis of the urgent action database from 2016? Please find key findings at Amnesty International official Urgent Action Analysis and from Dr. Jonathan Gray (external link) Analysis of Amnesty International’s Urgent Actions database from 2016, published by Dr. Jonathan Gray.
Links to more information
Read more about Amnesty International at the global website Amnesty International Who We Are.
Here is a nice article about the invention in 1973 of this action type written in 2013 Still urgent after 40 years (2013).
A historic clip from Amnesty International Brazil about Mr. Rossi, who the first ever Urgent Action was written Clip about Urgent Action for Rossi in February 1973 in Brazil (portugese).