UA Network FAQs

 General Questions

 

Participating in the UA Network

 

Letter writing questions

 

General Questions

How big is the Urgent Action Network (UAN) in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and how large is it worldwide?
There are approximately 640 Urgent Action Network (UAN) members based in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Globally, there are approximately 80,000 members in 80 countries.

Even though Kiwis are a small part of the UA Network, how do our replies make an impact?
New Zealanders make a big impact through Urgent Actions (UAs) for the following reasons:
New Zealanders are amongst the first to respond to Urgent Actions due to our timeline. 

Urgent Actions are regularly released overnight New Zealand time by Amnesty’s Research Headquarters the International Secretariat (IS) in London. New Zealanders usually receive UAs at the start of the day.

Action taken within the first 24-hours is key to contributing to the up-to 40% success rate in achieving an improvement for an individual at risk. These improvements include getting access to a lawyer or family; speeding up judicial proceedings; or being transferred to a safer location with better conditions of detention.

By taking action rapidly, even if it’s only by a few people,  Amnesty members highlight to governments and decision makers around the world, that we know what is going on.  Practically, it means that human rights abuses such as torture are less likely to occur.

How are Urgent Actions researched and distributed?
The International Secretariat receives information about possible cases from a variety of sources including the families, colleagues, friends and lawyers of those at risk, local human rights groups, prisoners released from detention and even newspaper reports. Once the researchers have verified the facts of a case, they decide whether Amnesty has the mandate and the resources to take action. If so - and if the situation is pressing enough to require an UA - an appeal is drafted and forwarded to the UA staff where it is edited and issued as an Action. This can happen within a few hours.

It is then circulated to Urgent Action Co-ordinators around the world. New Zealand’s UA Team is located at Amnesty’s office in Auckland. The Team consists of Margaret Taylor (Activism Support Manager), a Refugee and Individuals at Risk Intern and a Campaigns Intern. You can contact us on: urgentaction@amnesty.org.nz

 

Participating in the UA Network

Can I ask others to take action on the Urgent Action I receive?
Yes, we’d be delighted if you could encourage friends and family, school or work colleagues, social group members to take action too.  Members of our UA Network already circulate the UAs they receive amongst fellow students and hold regular letter-writing meetings within their church community to give more people the information and opportunity to take action too.

We welcome all members of the UA Network publicising their activism and getting multiple signatures from concerned New Zealanders on letters they have drafted.  We are regularly looking at ways of adding value to the activism our members already undertake and would love to hear from you if you have great ideas to share with the UA Network.

Useful outreach in the past has included:

  • Members working in a legal firm getting signatures from all staff, and letters from some on behalf of  a lawyer at risk;
  • Members with links to the media getting both media coverage and letters written by journalists on behalf of a journalist who had received death threats in Latin America;
  • A priest at risk of human rights abuses was spoken about from the pulpit during Sunday Mass, with the Catholic congregation encouraged to sign a letter after the service;
  • An English teaching using an Urgent Action to teach  her students to write a letter – a popular exercise because writing letters to save a life added a real sense of urgency to the lesson.
     

So please do consider “exporting” your activism to others. 

I would like a wider variety of countries represented in the appeals I receive. Can you do this?
We try to give each UA participant a political and geographic variety of UAs throughout the year but are not always able to do so due to the following reasons:
 

  • Human rights abuses requiring immediate action occur more frequently in some countries than others. The lack of UAs on a particular country does not necessarily mean that Amnesty International is not taking any action against potential abuses. Rather, Amnesty International might be seeking more information on cases of interest or engaging on the cases through advocacy or campaigning.
  • The usefulness of an UA appeal depends to a large extent on the quick receipt of reliable information. In some countries, channels of communication are well-established, while in other countries information on individual cases reaches Amnesty International too slowly for us to immediately react and issue an UA.
     

Can I receive more or less Urgent Actions each month, and how do I go about doing this?
Yes. You can receive as many or as few UAs as you would like each month (please let us know what your preferences are, should they change).

To change the frequency of your UA emails, email urgentaction@amnesty.org.nz with the following information:

  • The frequency at which you currently receive UAs (e.g. daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly) and;
  • The frequency you would like to change to.
     

Is it possible to take a holiday from receiving the Urgent Actions?

Yes. However this must be done by the member rather than the UA Team.

The software we use to email the UA's automatically sends out to all the people on the list under that frequency. This means that we don't have to manually enter in each email every time but the downside of it means that to skip someone out for a period of time is not as simple as deleting their email from the list.

The good news is that if you wanted to take a holiday from receiving the emails you are able to unsubscribe and re subscribe yourself. At the bottom of each UA there is a link you can click on to unsubscribe. This will automatically remove you from the UA list and an email will be sent to you confirming this. If you want to then re-subscribe there is a link in that email that can do this. You will have to fill in your name and receiving frequency again but it is a short two step process that is easy to follow.
 

Why are there time limits on appeals?
We state a final date for action at the end of each UA to help us co-ordinate the UA campaigns. If we receive important news before this end date, we will immediately relay the news to you. If we receive news after the action period expires, we know that you will no longer be working on the case, and we can include the new information in the next newsletter. The time limit also serves to remind us that UAs are, by definition, urgent and require an immediate response.

How do I know that my letters have an impact?
Since Amnesty International's inception in 1961, the grassroots efforts of our members have contributed to the release of more than 44,000 prisoners worldwide. The UAN has been a key tool in mobilising public pressure to end grave human rights abuses and to demand justice for those at risk. Our campaigning remains firmly rooted in the power of individuals working in support of others who need protection. Where we get updates or good news we alert these to UA Network members who have been sent those appeals.

 

Wouldn’t it just be easier to sign a petition?
Amnesty International does have on-going petitions connected to specific local and global campaigns. However, the impact of the UA comes from the fact that governments receive letters, emails, and faxes from individuals around the world, voicing their concerns – in their own words - about human rights abuses within hours, days, and weeks, of an appeal being sent. The more diverse and personal responses are, the more effective the UA will be. This is why we encourage members to write their own messages when taking action.

Can you provide more background information on the cases?
We always provide relevant information. However, UAs contain less detail than other AI materials like our reports and policy papers. Sometimes this is because we just do not have the time or opportunity to get more information. Other times, it is because of our own space limitations. We design each UA to be the equivalent of no more than two pages so that it can be quickly and economically distributed. Just as Amnesty International staff rely on its members to write appeals, members rely on careful and concise documentation from the Amnesty International research staff. Amnesty International has an online library of past reports and press releases indexed by country on its website. These resources can be useful for learning more about patterns of human rights abuses in specific countries.

 

Letter writing questions

What sort of letter is most effective?
Remember that you are writing on behalf of a specific individual(s) who can potentially be harmed as well as helped by our efforts. Because of this, it is important that we consider the tenor and content of our appeals.

An effective letter is both firm and courteous. It gives an indication of who you are and why you are concerned for the person. It is written on the assumption that the government is open to reason and that the recipient of your appeal may not know the specifics which pertain to the individual victim for whom you are writing. The letter could emphasise personal concern for the country's international reputation.

Always ask that the official not only improve the human rights situation of the individual(s) at risk for whom you are writing, but also keep you informed as to any developments in the case. Stress the fact that your concern for human rights is not politically motivated, but in line with basic principles of international law.
You may want to avoid references to 'democracy' and 'democratic principles', as they may be viewed by appeal recipients as an attempt to impose a Western ideal.

Finally, to be effective, it is important to keep your letter brief and to the point  - no more than a page in length.

When writing to non-English speaking recipients, use:

  • Simple language and grammar;
  • Avoid colloquial (slang) expressions;
  • Please only write in a foreign language if you are fluent in it

For more letter writing tips click here.

Can I write on my company letterhead?
Unless you are authorised to make such a decision, ask your supervisor before using company letterhead. Some companies may object to the use of their letterhead for human rights advocacy; others may encourage you to do so.

Can I hand write my letters?
Yes. We encourage people to express themselves in a variety of ways, as long as the message is polite, non-political and legible. Handwriting your letter also adds diversity and a personal touch to the UA responses.

Is it more effective to send letters representing myself as a member of Amnesty International or simply as an interested individual?
We encourage letter writers to use their professional or academic affiliations in their correspondence with government officials. You can refer to Amnesty International as your information source, but it may be more effective to simply state that you have learned about this person's plight and are therefore concerned.

Why isn't a sample letter included with the Urgent Action?
Although we would like to provide this service, there are several reasons why we are unable to:

  • We issue an average of four UAs a day, each one going to an average of five different officials. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources or capacity to provide our members with a sample letter for every UA.
  • We believe that much of our effectiveness comes from the diversity of letters, postcards, faxes and emails which we, as a network, produce. From school students adding drawings to their handwritten letters and envelopes to the professional writing on letterhead, we express ourselves in different ways which, cumulated, result in a rich mix of expressions of concern that help the UAN to be more effective in campaigning.

 

Should I send copies of my letters to you?
No. If you would like to send us a copy of your first letter to check that you are on the right track, we would be happy to provide feedback. Every few years we will send a survey to UAN members to collect important data about the network and at that time we ask how many letters are being written by you or by a local AI group that you may belong to. Always feel free to contact us if you have concerns at urgentaction@amnesty.org.nz.  Along with the letter-writing tips featured in these answers you’ll find more guidance here.

Are the addresses listed in order of priority?
Amnesty International never knows with certainty which official will respond to our appeals in a way that will stop the abuse or potential abuse. However, generally government officials are listed in a priority order, the first official being the most important for the specific appeal. If you can write to each official listed on the UA, that's fantastic. It is also fine to pick one or two officials, knowing that other UA letter writers will likely choose to write to the other officials. Addresses listed in the "Copies to" section are not listed in any specific order; so send copies to as many as you can.

What should I do if I my email bounces back and does not reach the intended recipient?
When an email address is available for an official, it is included in the address section of the UA. The email addresses listed represent the most up to date information we had available at the time the UA was issued. If your email bounces back to you or you receive an "undeliverable" notice, please forward the email response to urgentaction@amnesty.org.nz, and we will try to rectify the problem.

In some instances, a full inbox is the cause for the delivery failure, and is therefore only temporary. For this reason, try resending the email two or three times. The upside of this problem is that sometimes a full inbox reflects a very successful UA, where many individuals around the world have replied to a call for action.

What should we do when we receive a reply to our letters from a government official?
Please send us the original or copy of any substantive reply you receive. There is no need to forward replies which simply confirm receipt of your letter. However, if the reply is in a language you can’t read please do forward to us.

 

When sending us the responses to your letters please include the reference number of the case. This can be found at the bottom of the Urgent Action Email and looks like: UA: 158/10 Index: AMR 51/062/2010 USA Date: 12 July 2010. This helps us keep track of the responses for each case.

We regularly ask you to send copies of letters you write to diplomatic representatives of the  target country  in New Zealand.  Replies from such sources often provide useful insights that the first addressee does not provide.

Replies provide important information to Amnesty International researchers who monitor the reaction of officials to our actions.

Are there other on-line activism options for me to engage in?
Yes. Our UA Network is only one part of our online activism.

Every fortnight or as crisis arise we send out e-actions to some 7,727 members and supporters within our E-action Network. All members with an email address are sent these e-actions.  To update your email contact details email info@amnesty.org.nz or phone 0800 266 378.

Members can also join our Specialist Networks to receive regular updates on an issue dear to their heart or they have a professional interest in.  Click here for more details.

Can I join with other Amnesty members to take action?
Yes, if you have an interest in joining a local group or regional team in your area and attending regular meetings with like-minded souls taking action for human rights, click here to learn more.



 


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