[JURIST] The details surrounding the deaths of several individuals inside US immigration detention centers were intentionally concealed, the New York Times (NYT) reported [text] Saturday. The NYT, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website], gathered information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [text] pertaining to more than 100 deaths that have occurred in the detention facilities since 2003. The NYT discovered that government officials had made deliberate attempts to conceal information from the media and the public, despite the Obama administration's promises to increase the transparency of such organizations. As a result, investigations have been conducted by the US Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [official websites]. According to the NYT, such internal investigations provide further support that the culture of secrecy has continued in the current administration.

In the face of criticism, the Obama administration has taken steps in recent months to improve conditions for immigrant detainees. Last month, reports [JURIST report] from the Constitution Project and Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy websites] indicated that the US immigration detention and transfer policies unnecessarily interfere with detainees' rights to counsel and procedural fairness. In November, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [official website] announced [JURIST report] that the Obama administration will push for immigration reform legislation early next year. In August, the ICE acknowledged [JURIST report] that 11 deaths in immigration detention centers had gone unreported. The admission came just a week after the ICE announced [JURIST report] that large-scale changes to the immigration detention system would take place.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF; press release] on Friday against the Library of Congress [official website] on behalf Col. Morris Davis [official profile, PDF], the former chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo Bay military commissions [JURIST news archive]. Davis, who was employed at Library's Congressional Research Service (CRS) [official website], resigned as the military commissions' chief prosecutor in October 2007. Following his recognition, Davis became an outspoken critic of the commissions, including writing articles, giving speeches, and testifying before Congress that the system is fundamentally flawed. In the lawsuit, the ACLU alleges that Davis was terminated due to opinion pieces about the commissions. The ACLU believes that the discharge violates Davis's rights of free speech and due process. The complaint says:

Col. Davis now brings this Complaint for violation of his First and Fifth Amendment rights, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, including reinstatement to his Assistant Director position, and damages.

[JURIST] Afghan officials on Saturday signed [press release] a memorandum of understanding to delineate the process through which Afghanistan will take over the US military's Parwan Detention Center that was formerly housed at Bagram Air Base [official website; JURIST news archive]. The transfer of responsibilities may take place within six months [Al Jazeera report], and will initially rely on the Afghan Ministry of Defense to run the facility. Afghan President Hamid Karzai [official profile; JURIST news archive] will determine the timing of the eventual transfer of complete responsibility for the Parwan Detention Centre to the Central Prisons Directorate in the Ministry of Justice. Afghan and US officials purport that the move will strengthen security and the rule of law in Afghanistan.

The Parwan Detention Centre was opened [JURIST report] in November, to replace the detention facility formerly located in a hangar at the Bagram Air Base. Even after the opening of the new detention facility, international human rights activists called on [press release] the Obama administration to ensure that detention policies conform to international law. Reports of abuses at Bagram during the previous administration included the death of two detainees after severe beatings and prolonged detentions without trial or access to legal counsel. The Parwan Detention Centre instituted a system of personal representatives [JURIST report] who are not lawyers but would explain the process to detainees and assist them in gathering any evidence to challenge their detention.

[JURIST] A naturalized American citizen pleaded not guilty on Saturday in federal court in New York City to charges of conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country and of receiving military training from al Qaeda. Adis Mendunjanin was indicted [NYT report] in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York [official website] on Saturday morning, and his lawyer has accused authorities of holding and questioning his client without access to his family or his lawyer for 36 hours. Medunjanin remains in detention, and prosecutors have announced that they intend to seek a permanent order of detention at a bail hearing that has been set for next Thursday. Medunjanin was arrested [press release] on Friday morning in connection with an ongoing investigation related to Najibullah Zazi, the suspected terrorist accused last September of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. Zarein Ahmedzay was also arrested Friday in connection with the Zazi investigation. All three men allegedly traveled together [Reuters report] to Pakistan in 2008 to receive al Qaeda training, according to prosecutors.

Zazi is a native of Afghanistan who was arrested [BBC report] by FBI agents in Colorado last fall. He was originally charged with making false statements to the FBI. Zazi was charged [indictment, PDF; JURIST report] with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Zazi pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] in September. At the time, prosecutors from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] said [LAT report] that they had significant information to use against Zazi, while his lawyer countered that the prosecution cannot prove Zazi's guilt unless they identify the other conspirators.