The relationship made it uncomfortable for the US and EU to speak out about human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.
The reason is that there were real abuses of the system; organised gangs behind bulk claims; shady advisers cooking up scams.
While those abuses impacted people overseas, Homan Square – said to house military-style vehicles, interrogation cells and even a cage – trains its focus on Americans, most often poor, black and brown.
Refugee advocates said the substandard conditions in PNG's Manus Island detention centre, the very high crime rates in the country and "daily pervasive human rights abuses" were evidence the new arrangements contravened Australia's basic obligations to help refugees who come here.
"The government and its allies need to step up their protection, support services, and prosecutions of abuses to stop this cycle of terror".
Related: Thousands jailed in Uzbekistan on politically motivated charges, report says Human rights groups also lambasted the election as unconstitutional and unfair, while also noting the Karimov regime's track record of abuses and repression of criticism.
Torture and other serious human rights abuses are widespread in the custody of Sri Lankan security forces, including the police.
While reports of abuses committed by regional military forces pursuing Kony have surfaced, Sawyer said Human Rights Watch has not documented any committed by the Ugandan troops working with the United States.
We can only surmise the PR offensive has come ahead of the screening in Australia of the HBO documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, which alleges abuses and corruption in the church.
He questions why the totalitarian state is often seen as a source of amusement, despite well-documented human rights abuses, and thinks westerners would not feel as comfortable poking fun at Syrian president Bashar al-Assad or laughing at the eccentricities of Islamic State (Isis).
The former international criminal court judge said her encounters with serious human rights abuses, which included serving on the Rwanda tribunal, did not make her take online privacy less seriously.
