Our latest template letters for activists in Scotland

Following the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, a host of new MSPs are settling into their roles up and down the country.

We're asking our activists in Scotland to contact their MSPs to introduce themselves and to urge them to support the introduction of a Scottish Human Rights Bill during this Parliament.

If you'd like to supplement your email/letter with some supporting materials, consider including our Human Rights Manifesto and/or our latest parliamentary briefing on the Human Rights Bill.

You can find more resources to read and share in our new Knowledge Hub.

1. Download our template letter to welcome your MSP and urge them to support a Scottish Human Rights Bill.

2. Find your MSP's email addresses by entering your postcode.

Use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology by Police Scotland: ended May 2026

Police Scotland has decided to move ahead with the use of Live Facial Recognition technology by law enforcement in Scotland.

Amnesty International Scotland firmly opposes the use of this dangerous technology.

Facial recognition technology is a mode of mass surveillance by design.

It violates the right to privacy, non-discrimination and peaceful assembly and is not compatible with Scotland’s human rights obligations.

The implications of the decision to move forward with LFR should not be underestimated.

Adoption of the technology would represent a historic shift in the relationship between Police Scotland and the public.

We're therefore asking activists to write to their MSP urging them to oppose the use of LFR technology by Police Scotland and to call on Police Scotland and the SPA to reverse their decision to develop plans to use it.

Freedom of expression: ended September 2025

May 2025 marks two years of the 2023 Public Order Act, one of a string of UK anti-protest laws introduced in the last five years.

Unfortunately, while a new party now leads Westminster, the threat to peaceful protest remains.

The new Crime and Policing Bill, introduced in February 2025, will grant police more powers than ever to crack down on peaceful protests, including by banning face coverings.

While the Bill won't directly affect Scotland, it could influence Scottish legislation. We're therefore asking activists across Scotland to demand their MPs support making peaceful protest a statutory right.

Scottish Enterprise: ended February 2025

FOI disclosures revealed that Scotland's national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, has repeatedly issued public funds to companies known to be manufacturing arms components used by states committing serious violations of international humanitarian law. 

To date, no company has failed Scottish Enterprise’s human rights due diligence checks, which were revealed to be based on the amount of money being requested, not what the company sells or where it sells to. In response, Amnesty International Scotland wrote to the Deputy First Minister to demand a review of the agency's due diligence checks. 

After Amnesty International found damning evidence of Israel's genocide in Gaza in December 2024, we underlined our calls for an urgently review Scottish Enterprise's human rights checks to avoid complicity in the gravest of crimes under international humanitarian law. We asked you to amplify our call for Scottish government accountability by writing to 1) Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, 2) Minister for Business Richard Lochhead and 3) your MSP. 

Outcome: This campaign was successful! Read about what we achieved together and our next steps here.