On January 15, 2010, the US Department of Defense (DOD) released the names of prisoners held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in September 2009. The list contained the names of 645 prisoners, but was heavily redacted to exclude much of the requested information pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1-2) which allows the withholding of information if it is based on an executive order or details the internal practices of an agency. The ACLU information request was made in response to concerns that "Bagram has become the new Guantanamo — except with hundreds more prisoners, held indefinitely in reportedly harsher conditions, with no access to lawyers or courts." The contested legal status of the detention facilities have led to several unsuccessful habeas corpus petitions since 2010.

Learn more about Afghanistan, Bagram Air Base and the FOIA from the JURIST news archive, and read commentary on the habeas corpus petitions by Bagram detainees from JURIST Guest Columnist Amos Guiora in Forum.