[JURIST] Officials in Qatar on Monday launched a new human rights department which will function as a branch of the country's Interior Ministry [official website, English version]. The department will work closely with the National Human Rights Committee, a state-financed human rights watchdog, as well as other embassies, the labor department, the ministry of civil services affairs and the ministry of justice to address cases of human rights violations [US State Department backgrounder], including detentions without trials and illegal arrests. There has also been a push to close a deportation center that operates as a temporary prison where expatriates are held while a court decides their cases. AKI has more.