I feel like one could counter all of those save the last one, but the torture one sticks out big time. The method is explained to be something the Empire created by accident when exterminating children. I feel like you don't need to see them torturing people with no connection to Cassian just to get across how bad this is and how much they enjoy torture. You can't tell much of a narrative let alone several interlocking plots if you go off and spend time showing random abuses or have everyone who gets tortured be disconnected from the show.

It is a story, not an eclectic series of atrocities