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Right to protest
"I remind the University of Birmingham that the standards of protection of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly indicates that applying for permission to coordinate a protest undercuts the idea that peaceful assembly is a basic right". - Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
"The Guild of Students believes in individuals’ rights to carry out peaceful direct action (...).The Guild shall do all it can to protect its activists from being subjected to violence and intimidation, and provide guidance to them about their rights in protest (...)"- Guild of Students' Beliefs and Commitments
Background
In October 2024, one student (Antonia Listrat, LLB International Law and Globalisation) has received a disciplinary notice for her "alleged participation in unauthorised protest". Since then, multiple organisations and human rights campaigners have spoken out against this intimidation tactic used by the University of Birmingham to silence dissent. Notable contributions include the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, and MPs such as Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana.
The purpose of a student union is to protect our rights and interests as students, and to make sure there is as little interference from university management as possible. This is outlined in the Guild of Students' Beliefs and Commitments document.
The right to freedom of speech and assembly is of utmost importance within a university environment, where important societal issues should be discussed and platformed. The University's Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech inhibits peaceful assembly and has been labled as "most likely unlawful" by BUCU (see the legal background written by BUCU: https://birminghamucu.org/2024/09/27/statement-of-birmingham-ucu-on-the-university-of-birmingham-code-of-practice-on-freedom-of-speech/).
Gina Romero, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association has recommended that the University of Birmingham changes the authorisation to a notification system. She also recommended that the university should indicate to students that a failure to notify an assembly does not make it unlawful, and it must not be used as a basis for dispersing the assembly or imposing sanctions. Lack of notification does not absolve the authorities from the obligation to facilitate the assembly and to protect the rights of its participants.
In addition, no student can access the Form to authorise a protest under the current authorisation system, as the Form is locked under an authentication wall, and access seems to be denied to individual students. How can we apply for our freedom of assembly, if we are not even able to access the Form? Access Denied: https://bham.sharepoint.com/sites/executivesupport/_layouts/15/AccessDenied.aspx?Source=https%3A%2F%2Fbham%2Esharepoint%2Ecom%2Fsites%2Fexecutivesupport%2FSitePages%2FFreedomofSpeech%2Easpx&correlation=5a8e7fa1%2D0068%2Db000%2Dc4a7%2De86631c7be26&Type=item&name=7b74a836%2D8a04%2D4d5e%2D9a6c%2De27cfbb29910&listItemId=69&listItemUniqueId=5c6739d1%2D66c3%2D4c38%2Dad39%2D5e68cc12e421
This has broader impacts beyond the individual students affected, as an attack on one student is an attack on our rights everywhere. The University's practices on student activism also impacts UoB's reputation and ethical responsibilities. In this case, the university has targeted students for their Pro-Palestine activism and their campaign for divestment, as UoB continues to hold over £72 millions in investments and partnerships with companies complicit in genocide and documented war crimes in Palestine. Universities are starting to review their partnerships with companies that have broken international law (see the UCL campaign: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFdFfbAIMtM/?igsh=eXgyb3M1ZmJoYjR2). It is of utmost importance that the Guild protects the rights of student activists campaigning on this issue, as the university’s treatment of protests and their refusal to engage on the issue of divestment is affecting the whole student body. In December 2024, the Palestine Solidarity motion has passed the ALL STUDENT VOTE with 93% of votes in favour.
The Guild should take Immediate and transparent steps to protect our right to protest. Previous attempts to engage the Guild on this issue have been unsuccessful. This is an opportunity for the Guild of Students to take action and reaffirm its commitments and role as an advocate for student rights.
This issue goes beyond individual disciplinary cases and raises critical concerns about institutional accountability, student activism and ethical investment. The Guild of Students has a responsibility to uphold democratic principles and protect the rights of its members.
Previous inaction by the Guild on these issues necessitates urgent intervention and structural changes.
IMPLEMENTATION
The Guild of Students should, as a priority:
• make a statement pledging support for our rights to freedom of speech and assembly, condemning the use of disciplinaries for "alleged participation in unauthorised protest".
• Join the student body, UNISON and BUCU in actively campaigning against the university’s Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech, which has been labelled as "most likely unlawful".
• lobby the university to change the authorisation system to a notification system, as suggested by the United Nations Special Rapporteur.
• lobby the university to review its disciplinary procedures, making sure they align with national guidelines, such as the Good Practice Framework of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. This includes disclosing all evidence and informing the student ahead of a disciplinary interview on how exactly their conduct is alleged to have broken the student code of conduct, information which has been withheld in both cases of the UoB2 (Antonia Listrat & Mariyah Ali).
• lobby the university so that any non-academic disciplinary investigations will complete within 12 weeks, to reduce the impact on our studies and mental health. It is unreasonable and harmful for an initial investigation to take more than 7 months.
• partner with UNISON and BUCU to support lobbying efforts and implement these changes effectively.
• host a survey and later publish a report about the students's experiences protesting on the University of Birmingham campus. The Guild must work with student representatives in designing the survey. One of the key issues should be how comfortable students feel participating in "unauthorised" protest, particularly vulnerable students, international and medical students.
• with transparency and input from the student body, conduct a review of the Guild's own policies on protecting freedom of speech and assembly on campus, and draft a new policty to outline the procedures and steps the Guild must take in instances of repression and plausible human rights violations on campus. A working group with student representatives should be established for this task.
What steps can the Guild of Students take to protect the students' right to freedom of speech and assembly?
Is the Student Union committed to protecting student activism and direct action? What is the legacy of the Guild in this regard and why?
How can the Guild support its members in cases of repression and violations of freedom of speech?
What time frame should we expect for these structural changes to be made, and what can be done short term?