Alka Pradhan
@alkapradhan.bsky.social
Int'l human rights lawyer at Guantanamo & ICC. Penn Law prof. Chai, cheese, and hotteok connoisseur. I had hot sauce in my bag long before Beyoncé. No DoD opinions here; reposts are not confirmation/denial of classified info. She/Her
Pinned
Alka Pradhan
@alkapradhan.bsky.social
· Nov 21
Alka Pradhan - Shifting the mindset to end torture and coercion
YouTube video by APTGeneva
www.youtube.com
This is a pretty good encapsulation of my work on torture prevention and litigation against use of torture evidence. I hope that practitioners/judges in every forum will read and train on the #MendezPrinciples to make our legal systems more just.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=do9U...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=do9U...
Anyways ICYMI, here's my piece last week in @foreignpolicy.com about why the US attack on Venezuela was a terrible/foreseeable extension of Executive power gone wild:
foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/12/v...
foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/12/v...
January 20, 2026 at 12:58 AM
Anyways ICYMI, here's my piece last week in @foreignpolicy.com about why the US attack on Venezuela was a terrible/foreseeable extension of Executive power gone wild:
foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/12/v...
foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/12/v...
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
I suspect 9 of 10 Americans are unaware that the Hmong are here because they aided the US in the Vietnam war, and then had to flee as refugees afterwards. Quite the “thank you” we’re giving them 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
ICE is allegedly hunting for Hmong people in Minneapolis and as I watched video of the incident lo and behold @whstancil.bsky.social was on the scene
January 20, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I suspect 9 of 10 Americans are unaware that the Hmong are here because they aided the US in the Vietnam war, and then had to flee as refugees afterwards. Quite the “thank you” we’re giving them 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
Yeah this is sort of what I mean - I sound like a broken record, but you know who else provided legal cover for govt crimes and now holds a named chair at Berkeley?
Yoo know who??
The impunity started way before this admin, and we've completely normalized it.
www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/...
Yoo know who??
The impunity started way before this admin, and we've completely normalized it.
www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/...
January 20, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Yeah this is sort of what I mean - I sound like a broken record, but you know who else provided legal cover for govt crimes and now holds a named chair at Berkeley?
Yoo know who??
The impunity started way before this admin, and we've completely normalized it.
www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/...
Yoo know who??
The impunity started way before this admin, and we've completely normalized it.
www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/...
As a lawyer dealing primarily at the intersection of human rights/nat sec, I'm not really interested in discussion abt midterms, tbh. What I want to know is, what are Dems (or anyone) prepared to do to ensure accountability for all the intl and domestic crimes? Are they prepared to cut Exec power?
January 20, 2026 at 12:35 AM
As a lawyer dealing primarily at the intersection of human rights/nat sec, I'm not really interested in discussion abt midterms, tbh. What I want to know is, what are Dems (or anyone) prepared to do to ensure accountability for all the intl and domestic crimes? Are they prepared to cut Exec power?
Everyone seems to have gotten over the kidnapping of Maduro, the continued aggression against Venezuela, and the totally foreseeable plundering of oil. Is that accurate?
January 20, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Everyone seems to have gotten over the kidnapping of Maduro, the continued aggression against Venezuela, and the totally foreseeable plundering of oil. Is that accurate?
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
"They went to the Midwest to fight a phantom war against imaginary enemies. They ended up, within days, as an occupying force. In his first address as president, in 2017, Trump spoke of 'American carnage.' In Minnesota, in 2026, the carnage is finally here."
#Opinion from @rwarnica.bsky.social
#Opinion from @rwarnica.bsky.social
Richard Warnica: I spent the week in Minnesota. The only thing I’m sure of now is that more people are going to die
As confrontations between ICE and protesters and activists grow more common, the tension only rises.
www.thestar.com
January 17, 2026 at 7:19 PM
"They went to the Midwest to fight a phantom war against imaginary enemies. They ended up, within days, as an occupying force. In his first address as president, in 2017, Trump spoke of 'American carnage.' In Minnesota, in 2026, the carnage is finally here."
#Opinion from @rwarnica.bsky.social
#Opinion from @rwarnica.bsky.social
Intl lawyer here: no surprise, but Stephen Miller is a terrible post-WWII lawyer.
Miller: Denmark is a tiny country with a tiny economy and a tiny military. They cannot defend Greenland… Under every understanding of law that has existed about territorial control for 500 years, to control a territory you have to be able to defend a territory…
January 17, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Intl lawyer here: no surprise, but Stephen Miller is a terrible post-WWII lawyer.
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
The Hmong are here because they fought for the US in a war we lost.
"“They specifically asked me if I knew where the Hmong families lived on my street & in the neighborhood.” Lugert-Thom responded, “I don’t know anything about that” & she said they then asked, “Well, what about the Asian families?”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
A St. Paul resident says federal officers knocked on her door and asked her to identify Hmong and Asian households in her North End neighborhood last week.
January 14, 2026 at 2:57 PM
The Hmong are here because they fought for the US in a war we lost.
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
Saint Paul schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for optional online learning.
I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.
I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.
January 15, 2026 at 1:05 AM
Saint Paul schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for optional online learning.
I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.
I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
“A campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
January 15, 2026 at 1:52 AM
“A campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
First seminar of the semester down (Int'l Human Rights and Nat Sec) and I have to say - every year I begin on a day when I'm tired after fighting ppl/states that want to destroy international law and human rights, and every year I end energized. The @pennlaw.bsky.social kids are brill. 🪩🎉💃🏾
January 15, 2026 at 1:49 AM
First seminar of the semester down (Int'l Human Rights and Nat Sec) and I have to say - every year I begin on a day when I'm tired after fighting ppl/states that want to destroy international law and human rights, and every year I end energized. The @pennlaw.bsky.social kids are brill. 🪩🎉💃🏾
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
1/DOJ OLC's memo on the #Venezuela attack makes clear that that in the Executive's view, there's nothing left of Congress' Art. I power to decide whether the nation goes to war.
Congress needs to push back hard on this.
More to come, but a few initial observations:
www.justice.gov/olc/media/14...
Congress needs to push back hard on this.
More to come, but a few initial observations:
www.justice.gov/olc/media/14...
www.justice.gov
January 13, 2026 at 10:50 PM
1/DOJ OLC's memo on the #Venezuela attack makes clear that that in the Executive's view, there's nothing left of Congress' Art. I power to decide whether the nation goes to war.
Congress needs to push back hard on this.
More to come, but a few initial observations:
www.justice.gov/olc/media/14...
Congress needs to push back hard on this.
More to come, but a few initial observations:
www.justice.gov/olc/media/14...
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
Innocent people do confess to crimes they didn’t commit.
#FalseConfessions are preventable & often are police induced/enabled. Police must evolve & embrace science-based interviewing & #interrogation, which produce more favorable outcomes & mitigate misfires.
crimecentrals.com/2026/01/11/f...
#FalseConfessions are preventable & often are police induced/enabled. Police must evolve & embrace science-based interviewing & #interrogation, which produce more favorable outcomes & mitigate misfires.
crimecentrals.com/2026/01/11/f...
False Confessions: Why Innocent People Admit to Crimes They Didn’t Commit
A confession is often treated as the end of the search for truth. But decades of research and DNA exonerations have shown that confessions can be shaped by pressure, fear, and psychological vulnera…
crimecentrals.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Innocent people do confess to crimes they didn’t commit.
#FalseConfessions are preventable & often are police induced/enabled. Police must evolve & embrace science-based interviewing & #interrogation, which produce more favorable outcomes & mitigate misfires.
crimecentrals.com/2026/01/11/f...
#FalseConfessions are preventable & often are police induced/enabled. Police must evolve & embrace science-based interviewing & #interrogation, which produce more favorable outcomes & mitigate misfires.
crimecentrals.com/2026/01/11/f...
I wrote this article because I have stood in courtrooms and represented victims for most of my career, on issues stemming from post-9/11 U.S. crimes that paved the way for the attack on Venezuela and abduction of Maduro.
foreignpolicy.com?p=1217051&pr...
foreignpolicy.com?p=1217051&pr...
Maduro’s Trial Follows the Twisted Logic of the War on Terrorism
The U.S. government wants the power of war without the rights of prisoners.
foreignpolicy.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:40 AM
I wrote this article because I have stood in courtrooms and represented victims for most of my career, on issues stemming from post-9/11 U.S. crimes that paved the way for the attack on Venezuela and abduction of Maduro.
foreignpolicy.com?p=1217051&pr...
foreignpolicy.com?p=1217051&pr...
Today is the 24th anniversary of the opening of the illegal detention camps at Guantanamo Bay. The establishment/normalization of Gitmo by successive presidents who enjoyed their expanded powers too much led us directly to our present domestic and intl crises. And 15 tortured men still remain there.
January 11, 2026 at 9:29 PM
Today is the 24th anniversary of the opening of the illegal detention camps at Guantanamo Bay. The establishment/normalization of Gitmo by successive presidents who enjoyed their expanded powers too much led us directly to our present domestic and intl crises. And 15 tortured men still remain there.
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
I watched this video, you don’t have to, but it does indeed appear to have been released by the government to be exculpatory, and it is infinitely more damning. She is kind and hopeful, and after Ross kills her seconds later he yells “fucking bitch.”
And Renee Good’s last words appear to be “We’re not mad at you.”
In the video that the shooter took, which I believe was leaked to be exculpatory, he appears to yell “fucking bitch” after he shoots Renee Good.
January 9, 2026 at 7:21 PM
I watched this video, you don’t have to, but it does indeed appear to have been released by the government to be exculpatory, and it is infinitely more damning. She is kind and hopeful, and after Ross kills her seconds later he yells “fucking bitch.”
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
Amanda Gorman wrote this poem for Renee Good and that’s it for me tonight.
January 9, 2026 at 2:54 AM
Amanda Gorman wrote this poem for Renee Good and that’s it for me tonight.
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
Just saying aloud. The new colonialism. The US will "control the incredible natural resources of Venezuela." What might the people of Venezuela have to say about that?
WATTERS: Taking out a dictator in Venezuela -- how does that help the average American?
JD VANCE: First of all, what it means is we're gonna be able to control the incredible natural resources of Venezuela
JD VANCE: First of all, what it means is we're gonna be able to control the incredible natural resources of Venezuela
January 8, 2026 at 3:39 AM
Just saying aloud. The new colonialism. The US will "control the incredible natural resources of Venezuela." What might the people of Venezuela have to say about that?
As all of us still dealing with the illegal post 9/11 muck keep saying…
Better yet, disestablish all of DHS, and undo the nightmarish idiocies that we created in a panic 25 years ago. Reestablish the INS, get rid of ODNI, fix the damage from the Patriot Act, etc.
For the love of all that is decent and holy: abolish ICE
January 8, 2026 at 4:06 AM
As all of us still dealing with the illegal post 9/11 muck keep saying…
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
10,000 people honoring Renee Nicole Good
at the site of her murder
at the site of her murder
January 8, 2026 at 3:09 AM
10,000 people honoring Renee Nicole Good
at the site of her murder
at the site of her murder
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
I tell my friends in Korea that right now, living in US is like living during the Chun Doo-hwan times, minus the mass murder. But at this rate, we are not even that far away from a mass murder.
January 8, 2026 at 1:19 AM
I tell my friends in Korea that right now, living in US is like living during the Chun Doo-hwan times, minus the mass murder. But at this rate, we are not even that far away from a mass murder.
Reminder that DHS did not exist until 2002, and was part of the USG's reaction to the intel failures of 9/11 (other reactions included torture, illegal detention, extrajudicial killings, unconstitutional surveillance). It's not just ICE - the entire agency should be scrapped and the earth salted.
Like those before it, that insane, vile DHS statement about the Minneapolis shooting isn't about covering anything up. It's performative lying.
They aren't trying to persuade anyone that their agents did nothing wrong. They're trying to project that their agents can get away with anything.
They aren't trying to persuade anyone that their agents did nothing wrong. They're trying to project that their agents can get away with anything.
January 8, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Reminder that DHS did not exist until 2002, and was part of the USG's reaction to the intel failures of 9/11 (other reactions included torture, illegal detention, extrajudicial killings, unconstitutional surveillance). It's not just ICE - the entire agency should be scrapped and the earth salted.
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
The woman killed by ICE today was a poet. She won the 2020 Academy of American Poets, University & College Poetry Prize at Old Dominion University.
(And this is Renee from confirmed socials- a photo of a different woman with red lipstick is going around, but that was a classmate.)
/
(And this is Renee from confirmed socials- a photo of a different woman with red lipstick is going around, but that was a classmate.)
/
January 8, 2026 at 12:13 AM
The woman killed by ICE today was a poet. She won the 2020 Academy of American Poets, University & College Poetry Prize at Old Dominion University.
(And this is Renee from confirmed socials- a photo of a different woman with red lipstick is going around, but that was a classmate.)
/
(And this is Renee from confirmed socials- a photo of a different woman with red lipstick is going around, but that was a classmate.)
/
Reposted by Alka Pradhan
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.
This could be you.
This could be you.
January 8, 2026 at 12:15 AM
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.
This could be you.
This could be you.
The intentional misinformation for the purpose of causing harm to political opponents is stunning.
This glib statement is all the more risible when you recall how many law enforcement officers used their vehicles as weapons against protesters in 2020... and how many Republican-dominated states *sought to legalize killing protesters with vehicles* as a reaction to the demonstrations
Noem: "People need to stop using their vehicles as weapons ... it's clear that it's being coordinated. People are being trained"
January 7, 2026 at 11:49 PM
The intentional misinformation for the purpose of causing harm to political opponents is stunning.