As a person coming from a former Soviet satellite republic, I must say, that the more I read,the less and less difference I see between the countries that are well known for disregarding human rights and the "land of freedom" - the US. The only difference I can think of is that they probably won't shoot you in the broad daylight, like it happens in Russia. But other than that, the image is complete - if you do something the government doesn't like,they can absolutely destroy you. They can put you in prison without a court order, freeze your assets for indefinite amount of time, spy on you, send agents to follow you, deny you the information why they are doing this, and they do threaten journalists to not write about some cases or risk prosecution for violating "national security". I am honestly sorry for people who live in the US and happen to do something that their government perceives as wrong.