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 are consistent with the Constitution, civil liberties, and human rights. She has litigated cases upholding the freedoms of speech and association, and challenging targeted killing, torture, unlawful detention, and post-9/11 discrimination against racial and religious minorities. Her work includes a focus on the intersection of national security and counterterrorism policies with international human rights and humanitarian law. She previously worked as a staff attorney in the ACLU National Security Project and was the acting director of Human Rights First’s Law & Security Program. She also served as senior advisor to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions. Hina appears regularly in the media and has been quoted as a national security expert by numerous outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, and Reuters, and has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, NPR, ABC News, and the BBC. She is the author and coauthor 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. Hina is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Northwestern University School of Law.
Featured work
Jan 11, 2022
20 Years Later, Guantánamo Remains a Disgraceful Stain on Our Nation. It Needs to End.

Sep 10, 2021
20 Years After 9/11, We Have a Roadmap Toward a More Just and Equitable Future

Jul 9, 2021
Biden’s Domestic Terrorism Strategy Entrenches Bias and Harmful Law Enforcement Power

May 5, 2021
Trump’s Secret Rules for Drone Strikes and Presidents’ Unchecked License to Kill

Jun 4, 2020
More Military Deployment and Terrorism Investigations are an Outrageous Response to Black Pain, Grief, and Anger

Sep 25, 2019
White Supremacist Violence Is On the Rise. Expanding the FBI’s Powers Isn't the Answer.

Mar 13, 2019
Keeping Civilian Drone Deaths Secret Keeps Them Going

Nov 16, 2018
The Fatal Flaws in a Congressional Resolution to End US Support for the Saudi-Led Yemen War

Oct 5, 2018
The Government Is Blacklisting People Based on Predictions of Future Crimes
