The University of Edinburgh Amnesty International group staged a series of arrests in Potterrow to mark the ten year anniversary of the establishment of Guantanamo Bay.

The event was part of Amnesty International’s campaign to encourage the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and attempted to draw attention to the prison camp’s much-criticsed legal and human rights record.

The event started with Amnesty members anonymously sitting in the Potterow central area.

Without any warning, they were then violently apprehended by other members, acting as guards.

The arrestees were shouted at and forced to change into Guantánamo Bay’s trademark orange jumpsuits.

They were then marched around and placed in stress positions.

Student Julie Ferguson, who saw the event, told The Student, “It was scary, for the first few minutes we had no idea what was happening.”

“I knew about Guantánamo Bay before, but I hadn’t really thought about it.”

Following the demonstration, Amnesty members collected signatures for a petition to secure the release of Guantanamo inmate Shaker Aamer, an issue which forms a central part of Amnesty's campaign.

The demonstration also aimed to highlight the plight of Aamer's fellow inmates to the public.

Speaking to The Student, the Chair of the Edinburgh University Amnesty International Society, Laura Shepard, stated the importance of the protest and the need to close Guantánamo Bay.

She said, “It is appalling that it is ten years on and we are still calling on the US government to close Guantánamo.

“Kidnapping and imprisoning people indefinitely without charge or trial, denying them their freedom and human rights, gratuitously denigrating and abusing them physically and mentally - all of this needs to end and it needs to end now.”

Nadia Mehdi, the Edinburgh University Amnesty International Society's Fundraising Organiser, told The Student about the experience of acting out the part of a Guantanamo Bay guard.

She said, “It felt fairly scary to be shouting at people like that, as it is definitely against my nature to be ... it brought me one step closer to experiencing what life must be like every day for those still stuck in Guantánamo Bay having to undergo that sort of dehumanising humiliation.”

With the campaign ongoing and still gathering publicity, the Amnesty International Group remains hopeful for the future.