Amnesty in Scotland
Campaigning on domestic and international issues, including a new Scottish Human Rights Bill, accountability in policing, & support for human rights defenders, since 1992.
Amnesty Scotland activists holding placards at a protest
What we do
Our Edinburgh office was established in 1992. In the years since, our Scotland team has campaigned on a range of domestic and international human rights issues.
Our current work in Scotland covers a variety of areas, including pushing for a new Scottish Human Rights Bill, for stronger everyday rights in areas like housing and social security, and for the Scottish Government and other public bodies to put human rights at the heart of everything they do.
We believe in a Scotland where everyone can discover the power of their rights.
Our history Show Hide
The Amnesty Scotland office was founded by Ruth Adler, who was employed as the Scottish Development Officer in 1991.
Befitting the new location, the Scotland Office launch in 1992 centred on a Burns Night Supper. A scholar and passionate campaigner for women’s and children’s rights, Dr Adler also established the Scottish Child Law Centre and was a founder of Scottish Women’s Aid.
Sadly, Ruth died in 1994 while in service for Amnesty. According to Professor Juliet Cheetham OBE, it was in Ruth's Amnesty role where she worked until a few days before her death that she brought "her history, her philosophy, her head and her heart."
Dr Adler’s name lives on, not only through her family but through the Ruth Adler Prize and the Ruth Adler Lecture on Human Rights, an annual event established in her memory, held at the University of Edinburgh Law School.
The Scotland Office team are delighted to be able to celebrate her memory and are inspired by her work. In 2017, a plaque honouring Ruth’s contribution to Amnesty in Scotland, as well as her work with the Scottish Child Law Centre and Scottish Women’s Aid, was unveiled by her friend author Sara Sheridan.
Scotland deserves a Human Rights Bill
On 7 May 2026, Scotland elected new members of the Scottish Parliament and a new Scottish Government.
We now have a crucial opportunity to put human rights at the heart of Holyrood.
Everyone deserves the basic rights necessary for a good life – housing, food, healthcare, education, and a safety net for life’s uncertainties.
These rights are interconnected and rely on each other to ensure an adequate standard of living for everyone.
Across Scotland, we’re seeing the same challenges hitting people’s lives: too many people are being denied their rights. Too many are living in poverty or in inadequate or insecure housing. And too many communities are being demonised simply for being who they are.
People in Scotland want to see a fair and decent society where nobody has to struggle for the essentials. A Human Rights Bill that will introduce strong legal protections for these everyday rights is a vital step in achieving this.
We want the First Minister to commit to bringing forward the long-awaited Human Rights Bill in September's Programme for Government. This would not only be transformational by putting all of our everyday rights into Scots law. It would also make a statement about the kind of Scotland the First Minister wants to build.
Tell the First Minister it's time to deliver a Human Rights Bill
The 2026 election is over and we have a real opportunity to build the fair and just society that people across Scotland have demanded and voted for. The FM now has the mandate to implement a Scottish Human Rights Bill as promised – and you can remind him.
10 proposals for the new Scottish Government
Amnesty International has published a human rights manifesto setting out our ten calls to create a more just and equal Scotland. We're asking the new Scottish Government to:
- Introduce a Human Rights Bill to enshrine international norms, such as the right to an adequate standard of living, into domestic law.
- Improve access to justice for human rights breaches.
- Maximise rights safeguards for people seeking asylum and those with refugee status.
- Use Scotland’s social security powers to provide every individual with an adequate standard of living.
- Fully decriminalise abortion and ensure universal, publicly funded access to safe abortion services across Scotland.
- Respect and protect the rights of LGBTI people by banning conversion practices.
- Ban the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement and act to prohibit predictive policing systems.
- Advocate for the abolition of the Prevent duty and implement safeguards to mitigate its human rights impact in Scotland.
- Develop a comprehensive strategy to support human rights defenders internationally.
- Review and enhance due diligence processes to ensure that Scottish public funding is not involved in supporting violations of international law
How to get involved
Before the election, our Scotland team created a practical campaign toolkit packed with tips to help people engage with election candidates and champion human rights.
This toolkit also contains tips for engaging with new MSPs (of which there's a record number in 2026) throughout the parliament's summer recess.
By influencing your local representative, you can help make a Human Rights Bill a reality for Scotland.
Related content
Below you'll find an up-to-date list of template emails/letters you can use as an activist to hold the Scottish Government to account on a variety of human rights issues - handpicked by Amnesty International Scotland to amplify our latest human rights campaigns:
See all the latest news updates on Amnesty International UK's work in Scotland
See all resources for Amnesty International UK's work in Scotland in our Knowledge Hub