Best of Dispatches: Top News Posts This Week

A video captures Hong Kong police taking a more violent approach in reacting to the ongoing "Occupy Central" protests; A homophobic bill in Kyrgyzstan signals more discrimination toward its LGBT community; and schools are being burned in Thailand, but where is the UN? - these were among the most popular posts to Dispatches, our daily forum for breaking human rights news and commentary. You can find all our Dispatches here.

Dispatches: Caught on Film - Excessive Use of Force by Hong Kong Police

Maya Wang
It's dark in the some of the grainy video clips, but clear enough to expose an alarming development in the ongoing protests in Hong Kong...

Dispatches: A Shocking Display of Homophobia By Kyrgyz Parliament 

Mihra Rittmann
The passage of a discriminatory anti-gay “propaganda” bill to its first reading following a discussion today in Kyrgyzstan’s parliament didn’t come as a surprise...

Dispatches: Does UN Know Who Torches Thailand Schools?

Bede Sheppard 
First doused with gasoline, then set alight, six schools were engulfed in flames in Thailand’s southern province of Pattani on Sunday...

Dispatches: The Ukraine Ceasefire That Wasn't

Ole Solvang
“Is this what they call a ceasefire?” a woman asked me as workers cleaned debris from a small grocery store in central Donetsk in eastern Ukraine that had been destroyed in a recent rocket attack...

Dispatches: New Explosion of Violence in Central African Republic

Peter Bouckaert
Horrific bloodshed has returned to the streets of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, just weeks after the United Nations took over peacekeeping responsibilities from the African Union. It’s the first real test of whether the UN mission, MINUSCA, can bring some relief to the war-torn country following 18 months of bloodcurdling sectarian violence that has left many thousands dead and nearly a quarter of the population homeless and displaced...