Moldova's main political parties, the pro-EU party and the Communist Party, have been deadlocked since Moldova's last president, Vladimir Voronin, resigned [RFE/RL report] in September 2009. Lupu has unsuccessfully run for president three times [RFE/FL report]. Voronin, leader of the opposition Communist Party, stated that he refuses to support Lupu but indicated that Moldova could end the deadlock by voting for a non-parliamentary, non-partisan candidate. In April 2009 the Moldovan Constitutional Court confirmed controversial election results [JURIST report] which gave the Communist Party 60 of the 101 parliament seats, after it had ordered a recount [JURIST report] after accusations of falsified voter registration rolls.

Myanmar released 200 prisoners in October after the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission was formed [JURIST reports] in September. Although happy with this start, Ban encouraged Myanmar at the time to release the rest of its political prisoners. Myanmar has been working toward mending relations with the international community since last March, when a newly elected civilian regime took over [BBC report] after 20 years of military rule. Myanmar has still not released all of the 2,202 political prisoners [JURIST report] the UN called for it to release in 2010.

Obama has been criticized [Heritage Foundation report] by the right for the recess appointments as an unconstitutional extension of presidential power. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) [official website] stated that Obama's use of recess appointments "ignore[s] more than 90 years of legal precedent" [press release]. Some experts argue that recess appointments have regularly been used by presidents [JURIST op-ed] since George Washington. It is only a relatively recent practice that obstructionists have begun holding perfunctory pro forma sessions every three days while the Senate is on recess in order to block recess appointments. In 2005 then-president George W. Bush [JURIST news archive] used recess appointments to name Alice Fisher to the top post in the DOJ's criminal division, Peter Flory as an Assistant Secretary of Defense and John Bolton [JURIST reports] as US Ambassador to the UN. The US Supreme Court [official website] declined to hear [JURIST report] a case challenging President Bush's use of recess appointments.

This trial has been going on for more than three years [JURIST report] and involves many of the Polish leaders in 1981, including Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski and seven other Communist-era officials. Poland's Constitutional Tribunal [official website] ruled [JURIST report] in March that the 1981 declaration of martial law violated the country's then-governing constitution [text]. The trial hit several snags between 2008 and 2011, with both the death of the presiding judge and Jaruzelski's own failing health having delayed the proceedings for several years.

Although same-sex marriage is recognized across Canada, various provinces have interpreted rights in different ways. In October, a judge for the Queen's Court Bench of Alberta [official website] granted custody [JURIST report] of a child to a non-biological father who was a ex-partner of the biological father. In January, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeals [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that refusal by provincial marriage commissioners to marry same-sex couples is unconstitutional and thereby invalidated a proposed amendment to Saskatchewan's Marriage act of 1995 that would have allowed the commissioners to refuse to marry same-sex couples based on their religious beliefs.

Israeli government has been active in passing stricter laws this year. The Israeli Knesset [official website] passed [JURIST report] on Tuesday a bill that increases the penalties on illegal migrants in Israel and Israelis helping them. Penalties may include arrest and detainment in prison for indefinite time period without trial. The government also approved a bill [JURIST report] that bans the use of Nazi symbolism.

One day it is a church congregation that is being targeted, the next day it is a mosque, and the day after that it is some secular target. The religious tolerance that has been a central tenet of Nigeria's Federation is being threatened, and I urge all Nigeria's leaders to avoid falling into the trap of calling for, or sanctioning, retaliation or making other provocative statements. Everybody will be the loser if Boko Haram succeeds in its aim and efforts to sow discord between Muslim and Christian, or pit Northerner against Southerner. The fact that people are already leaving some areas where they are in a minority, out of fear of attacks by the majority, shows just how dangerous this is becoming for the country as a whole.

Boko Haram has been fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government and create an Islamic state, and has warned Christians in the mostly Muslim northern regions to leave the area. The group has been blamed by Nigerian authorities for hundreds of deaths in bombings and shooting over the last 18 months, and has publicly claimed responsibility for several of the attacks, including church bombings [AP report] on December 25 that killed approximately 40 people. Although Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan [BBC profile] quickly promised to bring the militants to justice, he has since declared a state of emergency [WP report] in several locations. The Christmas day bombings were internationally condemned, including being labeled as "senseless violence" by the White House [AP report] and "acts of "blind hatred" by the Vatican [AP report]. Additionally, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] has previously expressed concern [JURIST report] over acts of ethnic violence by Boko Haram. Specifically, the Office called the group's August bombing of a UN building in Nigeria [VO report] "cowardly." At least 18 people were killed in the attack.

[These cases] involve specific allegations about specific conduct. The question that has therefore been addressed in these cases is whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a criminal conviction against an identified individual in relation to these specific matters. The investigations have not examined wider allegations of ill-treatment, which, it is anticipated, will be examined by the Detainee Inquiry, chaired by Sir Peter Gibson. Nor have the investigations covered other specific allegations of ill-treatment beyond those raised in [these cases]. Should further evidence in relation to the matters raised...become available as a result of the Detainee Inquiry, the MPS would consider re-opening these operations.

Last August, 10 human rights groups said they would boycott the UK government inquiry [JURIST report] into allegations of torture complicity after receiving information on the protocol and transparency of the inquiry. They argued the inquiry would not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights [text, PDF]. In March former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] said in a BBC documentary that the UK gave "tacit approval" for torture [JURIST report] of terror suspects. In July 2010 UK Prime Minister David Cameron [official website] said that he will create a panel to investigate claims [JURIST report] that British government agents were complicit in the torture of terrorism suspects held overseas, after Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] urged [JURIST report] the UK government to investigate torture allegations and reaffirm its support for human rights.