Scottish Human Rights

Guest blog by Amnesty Scotland volunteer coordinator Risga Carson. With only one day left until Christmas, many of us will be rushing out to do some last minute shopping. In between all the holiday mayhem, why not take a moment to...

Scotland celebrated International Human Rights Day last week by launching the first ever plan to tackle human rights in the country – Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP). The national plan aims to kick-start a...

MSPs vote overwhelming in favour of equality A first step in a long road for the Scottish Parliament. On Wednesday 20 November, the Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill underwent its first vote in the Scottish Parliament and passed with...

Our Campaigns volunteer Jana Lopusna is in myth-busting mode to celebrate the United Nations International Day for Tolerance Scottish Gypsy Travellers are subjected to misleading articles in the media and have even been called the last...

The Commonwealth Games is coming to Glasgow next year and it's shaping up to be a truly momentous occasion. I recently attended the conference Responsibility and Rights: Glasgow Commonwealth Games which explored the human rights...

Guest blog by Jana Lopusna, campaigns volunteer for Amnesty Scotland. I recently spent a weekend in the beautiful Edinburgh City Chambers, at an event run by the Edinburgh Peace Initiative , learning about national and international...

Guest blog by Amnesty Scotland volunteer coordinator Risga Carson Student groups are a vital part of the work that we do. Active and enthusiastic, many of our members first started in these groups and continued a lifelong association...

There are as many ways to champion human rights as there are human rights defenders. From donning a Guantanamo-orange jumpsuit in a crowded square to signing a petition, every little bit counts and, happily, much can be accomplished...

Guest Post by Amnesty Scotland volunteer Katie Cunningham Last week, one of my friends made a rape joke. There was an awkward silence as the group tried to gauge each other’s reaction, and the joker took offence. We had, my friend said...

It’s Banned Books Week and I am reminded of events in Turkey earlier this year. On 17 June, Erdem Gunduz stood silently in Taksim Square for eight hours with his hands in his pockets. His strong but peaceful act of resistance made...

The countdown has begun! In a year’s time, the question of Independence will be put to the people of Scotland. As the Referendum looms ever closer on the horizon, we at Amnesty Scotland are holding a series of debates around the...

On September 11 1973, a military coup in Chile ousted the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, installing a dictatorship in its place. General Augusto Pinochet presided over 16 years of state-sponsored torture, murder...

Rea Cris is the Parliamentary Office Administrator at Scottish Environmental LINK and Communication Co-ordinator at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. You can find her on Twitter @MeecoYoueco Scottish Environment LINK...

Risga Carson has been volunteering for Amnesty Scotland during the Edinburgh Festival for several years. This year, she was Festival Co-ordinator. Every year, at least 30 volunteers work with Amnesty Scotland at the Edinburgh Festival...

This is an extract from Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award Judge Neil Cooper’s moving speech given at the Award Ceremony in Edinburgh last Friday. There was a very silly newspaper article published the other day by a...

Award-winning author Jackie Kay began this year’s annual Amnesty Scotland Annual Lecture with a poem. Her son Matthew, sitting beside her on the stage, had made the documentary Over the Wall about a British football team’s trip to the...

In the midst of the freedom of expression explosion that is Edinburgh’s yearly Fringe Festival, one little choir is seizing their democratic rights to vent their spleen at what most annoys them. The Complaints Choir is an international...

China is never far from the headlines. In the last week the Daily Mail ran a banner feature on Chinese citizens being banned from using Pizza Hut salad bars due to their fondness for building giant ‘salad towers’ of food. Apple’s...

Last week, we and many of the other charities in Scotland we work closely with, were surprised by a U-turn by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) who announced that charities can campaign openly for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote in next year...

Though much of the distressingly inaccurate press they get would have you believe they were living charmed lives in the UK; Asylum-seekers can tell you some of the most heart-wrenching stories you will ever hear. But for every account...