It was unexpected for me, but I think it is important for us to understand that it wasn't unexpected for everybody. It's kind of like if we found out that Gitmo really wasn't exceptional. That would be important.
It would imply that this something is a standard practice, many groups are aware of it and for some reason, over time and through many events, they've decided it's the best policy that they can hope for (or else they would have blown the whistle earlier).
It means you should consider changing policy carefully, because the policy was put in place (and stayed there) not on a whim but rather after some consideration and re-consideration. Unless you think that all of these groups are filled with horrible people whose only aim is power and control you might have to allow that some of them have different insights into the problem from their experiences.
Please understand that I'm not defending anything- just showing how it could be important to learn this type of information.