Amnesty International UK said restrictions on pro-Palestinian expression at some UK universities harmed students’ academic and personal prospects, putting campus discipline and protest rights in conflict.
Released Oct. 20, the group’s report examined 26 case studies and protest policies at 132 universities. Its main review covered events from Oct. 7, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2025, and the research also looked at the preceding 18 months. Amnesty cautioned that findings at one institution should not be assumed to apply across the UK sector.
Students and academics faced suspensions, campus bans or threats to their visa status for actions including chanting, clapping and wearing keffiyehs, the report said. Amnesty said sanctions were imposed in several cases before disciplinary hearings had ended, potentially punishing students before a final decision and discouraging others from speaking. The report also described universities treating demonstrations as trespass in campus squares, foyers and union buildings.
Amnesty said visibly Muslim students and students and academics displaying Palestinian symbols were particularly affected. The group argued that many restrictions in its case studies failed to meet UK and international legal standards for limiting political expression and assembly. It linked the wider pattern partly to government pressure, regulatory direction, lobbying and universities’ shared legal strategies, and said the measures harmed education, mental health and prospects.
The report cited a March 21, 2025, order at the University of Cambridge that addressed trespassing and related conduct at specified sites. Cambridge said it sought the order to protect graduations and staff work. The university’s notice cited the judge’s conclusion that protesters had other opportunities to demonstrate.
Amnesty also described the case of Usama Ghanem, a 22-year-old student suspended by King’s College London in 2025 over his pro-Palestinian activism. His suspension was lifted after a review in September 2026, Amnesty said.
“This is an attack on our freedom of speech,” Kerry Moscogiuri, CEO of Amnesty International UK, said. The group is urging universities to sign and implement the Defend Dissent Charter, promoted by a student-led campaign that calls for stronger protections for campus expression and protest.
