Amnesty International has launched their Defend Dissent campaign alongside the Amnesty Society at the University of Edinburgh.
The movement seeks to resist the suppression of university students speaking out and protesting, particularly those campaigning for the rights of Palestinians.
Speakers at the launch included Mariam Barghouti, Palestinian-American journalist and Edinburgh alumni, who spoke on a video call from the West Bank.
Barghouti said: “Students are being targeted, silenced, and punished for speaking out.”
“Historically, it is students and universities that have helped change the trajectory of the world.”
Karishma Patel, former BBC journalist and newsreader and current news critic and activist, was the other keynote speaker, stating: “I know what it means to organise in an Orwellian space.”
She continued: “We have to push out institutions, whether that’s the BBC or a university to do better.”
Audience members were encouraged to put themselves forward as group leaders seeking to get signatures of the Defend Dissent Charter.
The charter calls on institutions to put in place a framework for upholding rights on campus, in a list of ten demands.
Issues at the University of Edinburgh regarding restriction on protest were raised, such as the removal of a memorial for victims in Gaza and the administration’s hostility towards activists.
A first year student, who was at her first Amnesty event, told The Student: “I am here because I want to know how I can protest meaningfully and constructively.”
The Defend Dissent campaign has previously launched in Newcastle and is set to launch at universities across the country.
The launch pre-empts a report about universities’ response to Palestine solidarity expressions since October 2023 due to be released in early 2026.
The University of Edinburgh will feature at length in this report.
Adyn, Campaigns Manager at the Edinburgh Amnesty Society, told The Student: “We were so inspired seeing people turn out in great numbers to defend our basic freedoms on campus, and to hear such moving words from the speakers.”
“The diverse coalition of people present on the night really echoed the universality of the campaign too, crackdowns on dissent threaten us all. We’re all feeling very optimistic going forward.”
Image by Martha Fiddick for The Student