Alka Pradhan

Pradhan received a BA from Johns Hopkins University, an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a JD from Columbia Law School, and an LLM from the London School of Economics.{{Cite web|title=Penn Law Faculty: Alka Pradhan|url=https://www.law.upenn.edu/cf/faculty/pradhana/|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=www.law.upenn.edu}}

Pradhan was formerly an attorney at Reprieve. In 2014, her team sued the U.S. government over force-feeding techniques used on detainees at Guantanamo Bay.{{Cite web|date=June 22, 2016|title=Guantánamo force-feeding timeline|url=https://reprieve.org/us/2016/06/22/guantanamo-force-feeding-timeline/|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=Reprieve US|language=en-US|archive-date=April 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430200612/https://reprieve.org/us/2016/06/22/guantanamo-force-feeding-timeline/|url-status=dead}}

Pradhan has worked with members of the UK Parliament and European Parliament on torture investigations. She was a speaker for the "Complicity and Counterterrorism" series sponsored by an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Renditions in 2017.

In 2017, Pradhan led al-Baluchi's case before the UN Working Group of Arbitrary Detention. The Working Group determined that al-Baluchi was being subjected to arbitrary detention by the United States government, and recommended his immediate release.{{Cite web|title=OHCHR {{!}} Guantanamo detention of Ammar al Baluchi breaches human rights law, UN experts say|url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22730&LangID=E|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=www.ohchr.org}}

Pradhan was one of the subjects of the 2019 Field of Vision documentary The Trial,{{Cite news|last=Edenbrow|first=Johanna Hamilton Laura Poitras Charlotte Cook Charlie Phillips Jacqueline|date=February 22, 2019|title=The Trial: inside Guantánamo with 9/11 suspect Ammar al-Baluchi – video|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/video/2019/feb/22/the-trial-inside-guantanamo-with-911-suspect-ammar-al-baluchi-video|access-date=March 9, 2021|issn=0261-3077}} about the Guantanamo Bay military commissions.{{Citation|title=The lawyers defending 9/11 suspects at Gitmo - CNN Video|date=25 March 2019 |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/03/25/amanpour-johanna-hamilton-alka-pradhan-the-trail-guantanamo-bay.cnn|access-date=March 9, 2021}} Pradhan frequently speaks publicly about the impact of the CIA torture program on the detainees at Guantanamo{{Cite news|title=CIA Used Prisoner As 'Training Prop' For Torture, Psychologist Testifies|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/01/23/799130233/psychologist-who-helped-create-interrogation-methods-says-cia-may-have-gone-too|access-date=March 10, 2021|newspaper=NPR|date=23 January 2020|language=en|last1=Pfeiffer|first1=Sacha}}{{Cite web|date=May 27, 2019|title=Guantánamo lawyers see issues in torture exhibit at spy museum|url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/27/international-spy-museum-washington-torture-exhibit-guantanamo|access-date=March 10, 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}} and the lack of accountability for CIA and Bush administration officials who authorized torture.{{Cite web|date=July 20, 2020|title=Trump consults Bush torture lawyer on how to skirt law and rule by decree|url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/20/trump-john-yoo-lawyer-torture-waterboarding|access-date=March 10, 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}} In an interview with Christiane Amanpour, Pradhan stated that detainee torture "is the nasty center of this entire endeavour of the military commissions at Guantanamo."{{Cite web|title=CNN.com - Transcripts|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1903/22/ampr.01.html|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=transcripts.cnn.com}} She has also stated regarding Ammar al-Baluchi's prosecution that "I don't think that there is any real evidence the government has at this point that is not tainted by his torture."{{Cite web|last=Barghouty|first=P. Leila|title=One week at Gitmo|url=https://theoutline.com/post/3743/one-week-at-gitmo-9-11-trial|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=The Outline|language=en}}

In April 2025, Pradhan and her legal team obtained a win for al-Baluchi when a military judge excluded government evidence from his Guantanamo Bay military commission as torture-acquired.{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2025 |title=Sept. 11 Judge Suppresses Confessions Due to CIA Torture |url=https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/sept-11-judge-suppresses-confessions-due-cia-torture}} The provenance of the evidence had been litigated for nearly seven years prior to the ruling.{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2025 |title=Military Judge Throws Out Sept. 11 Case Confession As Obtained Through Torture |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/sept-11-confession-torture.html}} Pradhan stated that the ruling was "a reminder to the United States that governments that commit crimes must be hald accountable."{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2025 |title=Military Judge Throws Out Sept. 11 Case Confession as Obtained Through Torture |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/sept-11-confession-torture.html}}

Pradhan appeared in the 2019 documentary The Long Haul, about the life and career of human rights lawyer Professor Sir Nigel Rodley.{{Cite web|title=IBA - The Long Haul: Showing of a film inspired by Professor Sir Nigel Rodley|url=https://www.ibanet.org/Conferences/The-Long-Haul-Showing-of-a-film-inspired-by-Professor-Sir-Nigel.aspx|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=www.ibanet.org|language=en-gb}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The 2020 graphic novel Guantanamo Voices by Sarah Mirk featured a chapter on Pradhan, illustrated by Tracy Chahwan.{{Cite web |last=Mirk |first=Sarah |date=2021-10-15 |title=Guantánamo Voices: True Accounts From the World's Most Infamous Prison |url=https://themarkaz.org/guantanamo-voices-true-accounts-from-the-worlds-most-infamous-prison/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=The Markaz Review |language=en-US}} The same year, Pradhan was included on a list of "DC Rising Stars: 40 Under 40."{{Cite web |title=DC Rising Stars: Alka Pradhan, 38 |url=https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2020/08/03/dc-rising-stars-alka-pradhan-38/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=National Law Journal |language=en}}

In 2021, Pradhan joined the defence team of Al-Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud before the International Criminal Court.{{Cite web|title=International Criminal Court - Al Hassan Case|url=https://www.icc-cpi.int/mali/al-hassan}} Evidence against Al-Hassan is alleged to have been tainted by his torture in Mali.{{Cite web|title=Public redacted version of "Article 69(7) Application"|url=https://www.icc-cpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2021_03006.PDF}} {{Cite web|title=Public redacted version of "Defence Article 69(7) Reply"|url=https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/record.aspx?docNo=ICC-01/12-01/18-1411-Red2}}

Pradhan is considered an expert on the interaction between the law of war and human rights law; the prohibition on torture; and the impact of coerced evidence on fair trials.{{Citation |title=Alka Pradhan - Shifting the mindset to end torture and coercion |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do9Uh8Mdwog |access-date=2023-05-17 |language=en}} In 2025, Pradhan and co-author Benjamin Farley won honorable mention for the Lieber Prize from the American Society of International Law for their paper entitled "Establishing a Practical Test for the End of Non-International Armed Conflict."{{Cite web |date=June 20, 2024 |title=International Review of the Red Cross, "Establishing a Practical Test for the End of Non-International Armed Conflict |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4841714}}

Pradhan is an adjunct professor at Penn Law School{{Cite web|title=Penn Law Faculty: Alka Pradhan|url=https://www.law.upenn.edu/cf/faculty/pradhana/|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=www.law.upenn.edu}} and a former Co-Chair of the Human Rights Law Committee of the International Bar Association. Pradhan is also a member of the Board of Directors of the International Law Students Association.{{Cite web|date=June 29, 2018|title=Who We Are|url=https://www.ilsa.org/who-we-are/|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=International Law Students Association|language=en-US}} Pradhan was a member of the Drafting Group for the Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information-Gathering, often referred to as the "Méndez Principles" to honor the former UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez.{{cite web|title=NCHR hosting the drafting group on the Universal Protocol on Investigative Interviewing - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights|url=https://www.jus.uio.no/smr/english/about/id/news/nchr-hosting-the-drafting-group-on-the-universal-p.html|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=www.jus.uio.no|language=en}} {{Cite web|title=Mendez Principles|url=https://www.apt.ch/sites/default/files/inline-files/PoEI_final_2021.06.pdf|access-date=2021-07-13|archive-date=2021-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707165317/https://www.apt.ch/sites/default/files/inline-files/PoEI_final_2021.06.pdf|url-status=dead}}

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Category:Guantanamo Bay attorneys

Category:Human rights lawyers

Category:Anti-torture activists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:American people of Indian descent