Bio
Hina Shamsi () is the director of the ACLU National Security Project, which is dedicated to ensuring that U.S. national security policies and practices comply with the Constitution, civil liberties, and human rights. She has engaged in litigation, research, and policy advocacy on issues including the freedoms of speech and association, racial and religious discrimination, unlawful uses of force and detention, privacy and surveillance, and torture. Her work includes a focus on the intersection of national security and counterterrorism policies with international human rights and humanitarian law.
Hina has testified before Congress and appears regularly in the media. She is the author and co-author of publications on targeted killing, torture, and extraordinary rendition, and has monitored and reported on the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay. She is also a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School, where she teaches a course in international human rights.
Before joining the ACLU in her current position, Hina worked as a senior advisor to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions; as a staff attorney in the ACLU's National Security Project; as the acting director and senior counsel of Human Rights First's Law & Security Program; and, as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Hina is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Northwestern University School of Law.
Featured work
Mar 25, 2013
The Constitution Applies When the Government Bans Americans From the Skies
Oct 15, 2012
At Guantánamo Today: ACLU Asks Judge Not to Censor Torture Testimony
Aug 2, 2012
Guantánamo Military Judge Grants ACLU’s Request to Argue Against Censorship of 9/11 Defendants’ Testimony
Sep 8, 2011
The Legacy of 9/11: Endless War Without Oversight
Jun 13, 2011
DHS Should Focus on Criminal Activity, Not Beliefs
Dec 7, 2010
Targeted Killing: "A Unique and Extraordinary Case"
Nov 29, 2010
Wikileaks Doc: U.S. Tried to Stop Accountability Abroad
Sep 30, 2008
Honor Bound
Sep 25, 2008
Prosecutors Desert a Sinking Ship
Sep 24, 2008
High-Stakes Absurdity in Guantánamo