US violates human rights of its citizens in large scale

The United States has violated the economic and legal rights of its citizens to an alarming degree, the CATO Institute said in a new report.

According to the Washington-based think tank's newly published Human Rights Index, the United States' ranking fell from the 17th place in 2008 to the 20th in 2012, declining in indicators of rule of law and economic freedom, among others.

"The U.S. performance is worrisome and shows the United States can no longer claim to be the leading bastion of liberty in the world," said Ian Vasquez, co-author of the report.

According to Vasquez, in addition to the expansion of regulatory state and drop in economic freedom, the war on terror, the war on drugs and the erosion of property rights have all likely contributed to the United States' decline.

The United States has recently seen waves of domestic protests against and worldwide condemnation of its human rights violations as cases of police shooting dead African Americans, most notably the one in Ferguson, Missouri, happened frequently in the country.

Meanwhile, the White House's mass surveillance practices targeting civilian, corporate as well as foreign government communication have also triggered international resentments.

Leaders of U.S. allies such as Germany, France and Japan have repeatedly expressed regrets about Washington's spying conducts after the former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and the Wikileak whistleblower Julian Assange leaked classified government documents.

The preliminary report released on Tuesday offers sufficient data of years from 2008 to 2012, which will be updated subsequently on a yearly basis.