[JURIST] Both Iraqi and UN officials said Sunday that they were unsure when a final draft of the Iraqi constitution [English translation; JURIST news archive] would be printed as last-minute negotiations over revisions dragged on. With only 5 weeks remaining before the October 15 referendum [JURIST report] on the draft and five million copies of the document still to be distributed, a UN official in charge of the printing said it was unclear when the constitutional drafting committee [official website] would finish its talks and said the UN wants the draft as soon as possible. Saad Qandeel, a Shiite negotiator, said that negotiations on several points would continue for several days yet and that "If we fail to reach an agreement by the end of the week then they will print the present version of the draft unchanged." The issues being negotiated include the wording of a section expressing the Arab identity of Iraq, control of water resources, and Kurdish demands to be guaranteed deputy prime minister posts. Qandeel said that the National Assembly did not discuss the draft in its Sunday session, as had been expected [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] Guards at a New Orleans jail fled their posts after Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] struck, leaving prisoners behind in appalling conditions, according to Australian tourist interviewed [text] for the Sydney Sunday Telegraph. Ashley Macdonald was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and was thrown in jail just before the hurricane hit New Orleans. He described a chaotic situation lasting for four days where inmates were able to obtain or make weapons and two inmates locked in underground cells drowned. According to Macdonald, authorities only came to the rescue of the prisoners who were without food, water, toilets or power after inmates began escaping from the jail once the roof had been ripped off. The Orleans Parish Prison and other local jails were evacuated in the aftermath of the storm, and a temporary detention facility has been set up [JURIST report] at the city's Greyhound bus station. AFP has more.

[JURIST] Last-minute talks continued Sunday at the UN as an intergovernmental negotiating group [JURIST report] struggled to finalize a text to be submitted to the UN's 2005 World Summit [official website], scheduled to begin Wednesday. The group is working to prepare a platform of agreed UN reforms [UN materials], but UN diplomats have said that proposed amendments by the US [JURIST report; US mission to the UN materials] advanced several weeks ago have opened the door to other late requests from Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Cuba and India. The world's heads of state are due to consider several key UN reforms at next week's summit, including expansion of the Security Council and reworking the UN structure to better address human rights and terrorism. Competing proposals on Security Council expansion [AFP report] have been circulated with no clear indication of which will be endorsed at the summit. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan have proposed [JURIST report] that the 15-member Security Council be expanded to include 25 countries; this would add six permanent seats, who would not have veto power, and four non-permanent seats. The African Union is pushing a different proposal [JURIST report] - one that would add two permanent seats with veto rights and five non-permanent seats. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that a deal on the Security Council will not be reached before next week's summit, but that he hopes there will be an agreement by the end of the year. Sunday's Boston Globe has more.

[JURIST] The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) [advocacy website] issued a joint report with 21 other rights groups Saturday on last week's Egyptian presidential elections [JURIST news archive], concluding that although up to 15 percent of the votes cast may be questionable, there was lass fraud in Egypt's first ever contested elections than in past ballots. Monitors reported widespread fraud and violations [JURIST report] during Wednesday's election and a losing candidate has alleged fraud in the vote count, but EOHR said that the amount of fraud would not be enough to over turn the victory of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [official profile; Wikipedia profile]. One of the main problems during Wednesday's vote was that groups of voters were bused to polling stations and were allowed to cast ballots without showing registration. The EOHR also reported low voter turnout, saying that actual turnout was likely less than the official figure of 23 percent. AP has more.

[JURIST] California Army National Guard Sgt. David Fimon has been sentenced to a year in military confinement and received a bad-conduct discharge after pleading guilty to abusing detainees in Iraq. Fimon pleaded guilty to maltreatment of detainees, conspiracy to commit maltreatment of detainees, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. Fimon's case is part of a larger investigation into reports of abuse by 12 soldiers [JURIST report] from the Fullerton-based Alpha Company. Specific allegations have not been disclosed, but a military source has said that there have been allegations that soldiers used an electric stun gun to abuse detainees who were handcuffed and blindfolded. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Israeli Cabinet voted Sunday to leave Gaza, the last formality in Israeli withdrawal [IDF materials] from the region before handing over control to the Palestinian Authority (PA) [official website]. However, the Cabinet also voted against demolishing 20 synagogues [Haaretz report] still standing in the Gaza Strip [Wikipedia backgrounder], a move which PA officials say could delay IDF withdrawal [Haaretz report]. An Israeli High Court ruling Thursday had authorized the destruction of Gaza synagogues that could not be dismantled [JURIST report], but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon postponed the implementation of that ruling Thursday night pending today's Cabinet session. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Force officials said that Sunday's handover ceremony had been canceled, citing PA refusal to attend [IPC release].

Even after the pullout of Israeli forces from Gaza, the area's legal status as occupied territory remains unclear [Reuters report]. Israel has said that there will be an end to military rule in Gaza, but Palestinians say that the occupation will not completely end until Israel gives up control of the area's air space, sea lanes and border crossings. There has long been debate over whether the Gaza strip is an occupied territory - defined by Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations [text] as territory "actually placed under the authority of the hostile army." Israel has maintained that the region has been held "in dispute" and has not been under occupation and has also argued that the Fourth Geneva Convention [text], which outlines an occupier's responsibilities to citizens of that territory, does not govern because the Geneva Convention is an agreement between states and the PA is not a recognized state. AP has more.

4:34 PM ET - The BBC is reporting that Palestinians will demolish the synagogues in Gaza after the Israeli army withdraws, according to a Palestinian interior ministry spokesman.