When war-torn Somalia was also ravaged by a drought-induced famine last year, which killed tens of thousands and displaced over a million people, international media was quick to blame the Islamist al-Shabaab for blocking humanitarian assistance from reaching its zone...

HELSINKI - To human rights activists, Turkmenistan is a "black hole" because little of its human rights violations is known to the outside world. Things are not much better in neighboring Uzbekistan. Its 26 million people have only restricted political...