Barbara Olshansky

The Truth Is in There

Christine Lagorio, Barbara Olshansky — 2005-08-12T00:36:00Z

Just months after U.S. troops stormed Afghanistan, attorney Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights began fighting for Guantánamo Bay detainees' human rights. She went straight to the federal court system, where countless cases of hers are still caught up in a tangle where politics seems to be triumphing over law.

More than four years since the first Gitmo lawsuit, Olshansky's frustration is mounting. The one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling on the Guantánamo Bay detainee-rights case Rasul vs. Bush recently passed. Despite a win by the detainees, which seemed to grant them access to the U.S. legal system, the government continues to strong-arm prisoners and their attorneys and endanger the entire legal system, Olshansky says. (...)

- / Village Voice

World Tribunal on Iraq Condemns U.S. and Britain, Recognizes Right of Iraqis to Resist Occupation

Barbara Olshansky, Arundhati Roy — 2005-06-27T22:20:00Z

The World Tribunal on Iraq wrapped its three-day session today in Istanbul, Turkey. The tribunal investigated various issues on Iraq including the legality of the war, the role of the United Nations, war crimes and the role of the media, as well as the destruction of the cultural sites and the environment. We play excerpts of addresses by human rights attorney Barbara Olshansky and Indian writer Arundhati Roy. - / Democracy Now!

Will Yaser Esam Hamdi Go From An Enemy Combatant to A Free Man?

Barbara Olshansky — 2004-08-13T23:10:00Z

For over two years Hamdi, a U.S. citizen, has been held on a military brig. Charges have never been filed against him. He has never been in a courtroom. And only recently was he allowed to see an attorney. The president declared him an enemy combatant and essentially decided the Constitution did not apply to him. Now the U.S. is preparing to release him. -

Supreme Court Rules Enemy Combatants Can Challenge Detentions

Barbara Olshansky — 2004-06-30T01:34:51Z

In a rebuke to the Bush Administration, the Supreme Court rules that the executive cannot hold enemy combatants without giving them the ability to challenge their decision in court. We speak with attorney Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights that filed the suit. -