Elisa Massimino

Elisa Massimino is CEO and Executive Director of Human Rights First, and was instrumental in the organization’s recent effort to assemble a group of retired generals and admirals to speak out publicly against policies authorizing the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody. This coalition of military leaders has played a pivotal role in the effort to restore compliance with the Geneva Conventions standard for treatment of prisoners.

Massimino serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where she teaches human rights advocacy, and she has taught international human rights law at the University of Virginia and refugee law at the George Washington University School of Law. She is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court.


Articles by Elisa Massimino

Monday December 15

Testimony, Hearing on Restoring the Rule of Law

Opportunistic governments have co-opted the U.S. “war on terror,” citing support for U.S. counterterrorism policies as a basis for internal repression of domestic opponents. In some instances, U.S. actions have encouraged other countries to disregard domestic and international law when such protections stand in the way of U.S. counterterrorism efforts.