Alka Pradhan is an American human rights attorney [1] who has represented Guantanamo Bay detainees, civilian drone strike victims, and other torture victims. [2] [3] She currently works for the U.S. Department of Defense, Military Commissions Defense Organization and represents Ammar al-Baluchi in the case of United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed . [4] Pradhan also works as a defence attorney at the International Criminal Court. [5]
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. [6]
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. [7]
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. [8]
Pradhan was one of the subjects of the 2019 Field of Vision documentary The Trial, [9] about the Guantanamo Bay military commissions. [10] Pradhan frequently speaks publicly about the impact of the CIA torture program on the detainees at Guantanamo [11] [12] and the lack of accountability for CIA and Bush administration officials who authorized torture. [13] 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." [14] 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." [15]
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. [16] The provenance of the evidence had been litigated for nearly seven years prior to the ruling. [17] Pradhan stated that the ruling was "a reminder to the United States that governments that commit crimes must be hald accountable." [18]
Pradhan appeared in the 2019 documentary The Long Haul, about the life and career of human rights lawyer Professor Sir Nigel Rodley. [19]
The 2020 graphic novel Guantanamo Voices by Sarah Mirk featured a chapter on Pradhan, illustrated by Tracy Chahwan. [20] The same year, Pradhan was included on a list of "DC Rising Stars: 40 Under 40." [21]
In 2021, Pradhan joined the defence team of Al-Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud before the International Criminal Court. [22] Evidence against Al-Hassan is alleged to have been tainted by his torture in Mali. [23] [24]
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. [25] 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." [26]
Pradhan is an adjunct professor at Penn Law School [27] 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. [28] 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. [29] [30]