Human rights concerns during the Gaza conflict were addressed in a report released [JURIST report] by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] last month and formally adopted [JURIST report] by member states on Thursday. The report also addresses violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed in May during Israel's raid of a Gaza-bound flotilla [JURIST news archive], which left numerous wounded and resulted in the deaths of nine pro-Palestine activists - eight Turks and one American. Israel has rejected the report as "biased, politicized and extremist." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [official website] testified before an Israeli-created civilian commission in August and expressed confidence that the commission would find Israeli actions to be in compliance with international law, explaining the Israeli response to the flotilla in the context of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. In July, an Israeli military probe into the flotilla incident found insufficient intelligence and planning, but concluded that no punishments were necessary [JURIST report].

Approximately 250 employees of the former Blackwater company were ordered to cease operations [JURIST report] and leave Iraq in February. The explusion was a reaction to a US federal court's decision in December 2009 to dismiss charges [JURIST report] against five former Blackwater employees accused of killing 17 innocent Iraqi civilians [JURIST report] in 2007 because information against the defendants was obtained unconstitutionally. In January, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [official website, in Arabic] announced that Iraq will file lawsuits against Blackwater [JURIST report] for the 2007 killings in both Iraqi and US courts. Also in January, two Blackwater contractors working for the US were arrested and charged [JURIST report] with 13 counts relating to a May 2009 shooting of two Afghans at an intersection in Kabul, including second-degree murder and weapons charges. Prosecutors announced in April that the contractors would not face the death penalty for those charges [JURIST report].

Fiji has been in turmoil since former president Ratu Josefa Iloilo suspended the constitution and revoked the appointment of all judicial officers after an appeals court ruling [JURIST reports] declaring the appointment of the military government following the 2006 coup unconstitutional. Bainimarama took control in the wake of the coup, which ousted then-prime minister Laisenia Qarase [BBC profile]. The Commonwealth of Nations [official website] suspended [JURIST report] Fiji from its organization in September 2009 because it failed to meet the September 1 deadline for reinstating a constitutional democracy and opening a national dialogue. Fiji was also suspended [JURIST report] from the Pacific Islands Forum [official website] in May 2009 after Fiji's current military government failed to meet a May 1 deadline to schedule elections. Bainimarama announced plans [JURIST report] in July to establish a new constitution by September 2013.

The power to dissolve the legislature and pass laws by decree is one that was conferred to Correa under the new constitution passed in 2008 [JURIST report]. Ecuadorean voters overwhelmingly approved the constitution, which also gave Correa the power to control monetary policy and seek reelection for an additional term. The special assembly charged with rewriting the constitution provisionally approved [JURIST report] the document in July. The success of Correa's referendum fulfilled his pledge to rewrite the country's constitution after his coalition's landslide victory [JURIST report] in October 2007. Critics characterized the 444-article constitution as giving the president too much control over the economy and the judiciary.