Hello! We are the Glasgow University Amnesty International Society.
The Glasgow University Amnesty International Society is a branch of Amnesty International, the world's biggest human rights organisation, working to advocate for human rights across the world. As a student-led society, we collaborate with the wider student community, and other activist societies, through campaigning and fundraising events, to raise awareness on campus about current human rights issues.
We usually meet on Mondays in Glasgow University Union, 4-6 pm, to discuss human rights issues during campaign events and with guest speakers. While we do cover some very serious topics, we make sure we have a lot of fun along the way. Socials form a big part of our society and we host a variety of drinking and non-drinking events throughout the academic year, such as craft events, pub quizzes and sub crawls.
We are proud to have raised a total of £512.96 in 2025/26 for a range of different organisations - £252.86 for Sisters in Spirit, £53.50 for Glasgow Women's Aid, £128.80 for Refuweegee, and £77.80 for Maryhill Integration Hub - through our bake sale and craft nights. We ran campaigns on GBV against indigenous women, refugee rights, and protecting peaceful protest/freedom of expression on UK university campuses with Amnesty UK's Student Action Network's 'Defend Dissent' campaign (follow @defend.dissent on Instagram for updates!).
In previous years, we have campaigned for a wide range of issues such as the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, abolishing the death penalty, reproductive rights, and campaigning against the development of lethal autonomous weapons. For this year, we are already planning campaigns on reproductive rights (calling for both the full decriminalisation of abortion in Scotland - working alongside 'Let's Change the Act', Amnesty Feminists, and Glasgow Students for Choice) as well as continuing our work on 'Defend Dissent'.
We are excited to have our members contribute further to campaigns this year, so please contact us if you have any ideas!
This year we heard from speakers including Karishma Patel (a media critic and former BBC journalist who resigned from the BBC 'out of conscience' and lack of impartiality over its coverage of the genocide in Palestine) and Miriam Barghouti (a Palestinian-American journalist reporting on the genocide in Gaza) at the 'Defend Dissent' launch event in Edinburgh as well as Bridget Tolley who runs Sisters in Spirit (a volunteer-led grassroots initiative supporting the families and loved ones of missing and murdered women, girls and two-spirit people across Canada) and worked with Amnesty Canada to launch a series of reports into the scale of the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls across Canada. Both these campaigns were informed by the lived experience and grassroots campaigning of students. Additionally, over the last year, we have collaborated with a range of societies from letter writing to newly arrived refugees with Student Action for Refugees (STAR) to an AmnesTEA event with GU Tea Society! We also host our annual Write for Rights campaign - in which we write letters to authorities, across the world, calling for the protection of and freedom for human rights activists and prisoners of conscience.
Our is elected at our AGM in April, and any vacant positions are elected at EGMs throughout the year. We strive to be the most warm, welcoming, supportive and inclusive society that we can be, and we are always excited to welcome new members and ideas!
We are looking forward to meeting you during freshers week.
Standard Membership: for current UofG Students
Associate Membership: for non-UofG Students (i.e. students of other universities, staff and members of the public)