Detainees at Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Kabul will be able to appeal their imprisonment through civilian courts when the prison passes to Afghan oversight at a date to be determined. The Taliban have condemned the plan to hand over the prison to the Afghan government, arguing that treatment of those held there will only get worse.

The Supreme Court blocked the release of photographs showing abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama, who once supported their release, changed course and has come to agree with national security advisers that the photos' release would harm American interests.

The BBC, after speaking with 27 former inmates of Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Afghanistan, uncovered accusations of abuse such as physical violence, sleep deprivation and humiliation. The report quotes Lt. Col. Mark Wright, a Defense Department spokesman, as saying conditions at the prison “meet international standards for care and custody.” Unlike Guantanamo Bay, the military prison in Kabul is not slated to be closed.

On his second full day in office, Obama issued two executive orders -- one ordering the review of detention policy options and the other ensuring humane treatment of detainees.

In his confirmation hearing Jan. 15, Attorney General-designate Eric Holder explicitly called waterboarding "torture," something Bush officials have never done. He continued to say that the interrogation techniques the new administration would employ won’t "serve as a recruiting tool for people who are our enemies." Obama himself, on "This Week" Jan. 11, admonished Vice President Dick Cheney for defending waterboarding. "From my view, waterboarding is torture," Obama said. "I have said that under my administration, we will not torture."