[JURIST] Haitian nationals already present in the US on January 12 have been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and will be allowed to continue living and working in the US for the next 18 months regardless of their immigration status, Department of Homeland Security [official website] Secretary Janet Napolitano [official profile] announced [statement; update] Friday. Speaking days after a devastating earthquake hit the Caribbean nation Tuesday, Napolitano said that "[p]roviding a temporary refuge for Haitian nationals who are currently in the United States and whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to Haiti is part of this Administration's continuing efforts to support Haiti's recovery." Groups such as the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the NAACP [advocacy websites] had called on the administration to grant Haitians TPS and halt any deportation or removal proceedings against some of them. The conservative Federation for American Immigration Reform [advocacy website] criticized [press release] the TPS as likely to "touch off a mass exodus" of Haitians and chastised the administration for having "no interdiction plan in place [nor any] off-shore holding facility to detain and repatriate large numbers of people heading for the U.S." TPS may be granted [USCIS factsheet] to foreign nationals when conditions in their country of origin temporarily prevent them from returning safely, such as during a civil war or natural disaster.

On January 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake [USGS backgrounder] caused at least 50,000 deaths and massive damage to property and infrastructure in Haiti. The most devastated city is the capital, Port-au-Prince, where the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti [official website] has said that up to 50% of buildings [statement] have been destroyed or damaged, including the country's presidential palace, the UN Mission headquarters, and the country's main prison [JURIST report].

[JURIST] The Wolesi Jirga [official website], Afghanistan's lower house of Parliament, Saturday narrowly approved [Sabawoon report; partly in Arabic] Habibullah Galib as the country's new Minister of Justice but overall rejected [CNN report] 10 of President Hamid Karzai's 17 nominees for cabinet positions, Karzai's second such setback in two weeks. A McClatchy Newspapers report quoted Sima Samar, director of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission [advocacy website] as saying that Ghalib's appointment was "a backwards step." Earlier this month, the Jirga rejected [JURIST report] 17 out of 24 initial Karzai cabinet nominees, including incumbent Justice Minister Sarwar Danish [official profile] after he was criticized for his inability to control Afghan jails and the mistreatment of detainees in Afghan Custody.

Karzai's new list had omitted [Reuters report] the names of all those rejected two weeks ago. Karzai was also forced to withdraw [Reuters report] the name of one nominee after he could not return from Canada in time for nominations. Karzai's administration has been alleged to be rife with corruption. In November, Afghan authorities announced that they had questioned two cabinet ministers [JURIST report] on corruption charges. Karzai had previously vowed [JURIST report] to fight corruption in his second term inaugural address amid pressure from the international community. Late last year Afghanistan was ranked [JURIST report] the second most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International [advocacy website], behind only Somalia.

[JURIST] US Department of Defense officials Friday released [BBC report] the names of prisoners held at Bagram Air Base [JURIST archive] in Afghanistan, in response to a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) [text] request filed [materials; JURIST report] by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] last year. The list [text, PDF], containing the names of 645 prisoners, several of whose last names were listed as unknown, was heavily redacted, omitting some requested information [ACLU press release] about the prisoners, such as citizenship, date of capture, and circumstances of capture. 5 U.S.C 552(b)(1)-(2) [text] allows withholding of information in compliance with an executive order or because requested information details the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency.

Last week, Afghan officials signed [JURIST report] a memorandum of understanding to delineate the process under which they will eventually take over the Bagram detention facility. The transfer of responsibility is expected within six months. Meanwhile, Afghan courts have already been prosecuting [JURIST report] some of the prisoners held at Bagram. A McClathy newspapers [JURIST report] investigative report [McClatchy report; JURIST report] alleged that many of the prisoners held at Bagram were civilians who were arrested based on false information. Prisoners at Bagram have launched habeas corpus challenges [JURIST report] in US courts but thusfar have been less successful than those held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST report].