Bio
Hina Shamsi (@HinaShamsi) 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
Apr 7, 2017
U.S. Strikes in Syria Are an Illegal Response to Atrocity
Mar 15, 2017
Trump Is Considering Expanding Killing Powers Abroad. The Consequences for Civilians Will Be Disastrous.
Mar 6, 2017
Revised Settlement Means Even Stronger Protection From NYPD Surveillance for New York’s Muslims
Feb 7, 2017
Flying Home From Abroad, a Border Agent Stopped and Questioned Me … About My Work for the ACLU
Oct 17, 2016
Finally Free: ‘Guantánamo Diary’ Author Released After 14 Years Without Charge
Jul 20, 2016
Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s Long Nightmare at Guantánamo Is Finally Coming to an End
Jun 20, 2016
The Use of Error-Prone and Unfair Watchlists Is Not the Way to Regulate Guns in America
Jun 1, 2016
Hearing Thursday Could Clear Path to Freedom for ‘Guantánamo Diary’ Author
Feb 10, 2016
Why I Have Hope For American Muslim Equality