Poisoning the well is a means of war, whether in the literal sense of well poisoning or the ad hominem form. Poisoning the well in the latter sense is when a source of information is summarily dismissed on the basis of some terrible thing. This negative association can be a perfectly valid objection to the ideas of the offending party, but nonetheless be totally irrelevant to the subject under discussion.
Human rights have become, by accident or design, a convenient excuse for various military adventures in recent years. A tremendous number of bombs have been dropped in the name of human rights. Alleged violations of human rights join with a dubious responsibility to protect, and absolve the attackers of any perceived aggression.
Meanwhile, the charge of a bad human rights record will efficiently poison the well of any communication coming out of the targeted country. If they can't respect their own people, how can they respect the truth? We don't need to listen to them; they're the bad guys.
Although devils and rogues are notorious liars, there's no reason they can't speak the truth. Although human rights are frequently a rhetorical weapon, they're also a very real and pressing concern for everyone everywhere with a mind and a conscience.
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