Best of Dispatches: Top News Posts This Week

Cruel indifference causes a baby's death in Russia; media is being silenced in Turkey; and the Sri Lankan military displaces residents - these were among the most popular posts to Dispatches, our daily forum for breaking human rights news and commentary.

Dispatches: A Baby's Death in Russia - No Words Left

Tanya Lokshina
Umarali Nazarov was five months old when he died. The cause of his death is unknown. What is known is that he died separated from his family in a hospital in St Petersburg, less than 24 hours after police tore him from the arms of his mother...

Dispatches: Pulling the Plug on Critical Broadcasting in Turkey

Emma Sinclair-Webb
Just days before Turkey’s November 1, 2015 general election, the Turkish government, presided over by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is taking exceptional measures to silence critical media and crack down on perceived opponents...

Dispatches: Sri Lanka's Army Plays by the Old Rules

James Ross
“Our ancestors lived here,” said the elderly woman. She and a dozen other Muslim inhabitants of the village of Kasankurni spoke to a Sri Lankan activist and me last week from outside makeshift homes where they have struggled to survive for four years...

Dispatches: Going Backwards on Child Marriage in Bangladesh

Heather Barr
Fifteen months after pledging to end child marriage in her country, Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, seems determined to lower the age of marriage in Bangladesh...

Dispatches: UN's Responsibility to Darfur's Rape Victims

Akshaya Kumar
Even over a crackling phone line, our Darfuri eyewitness was unequivocal. One year ago, at the very end of October, Sudan army troops stormed into her town in Tabit, North Darfur, dragged her out of her home, and beat her almost to death...