President George W Bush on Friday hit out at six regimes on a United States blacklist he said were guilty of oppression and human rights abuses in Myanmar, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Belarus. In a proclamation issued to mark "Captive Nations Week" first observed in 1959 as a statement against communism, Bush hit out at a familiar gallery of US foes. "Millions of people still live under regimes that violate their citizens' rights daily," Bush said in a statement issued as he made a day-trip to Dallas from his Texas ranch. - "In countries such as Burma (renamed Myanmar by the ruling military junta in 1989) and Iran, citizens lack the right to choose their government, speak out against oppression, and practice their religion freely," Bush said.
- "The despot who rules Cuba imprisons political opponents and crushes peaceful opposition," he said, in barbed remarks aimed at Fidel Castro.
- There were also harsh words for North Korea, with which Washington has been locked in a nuclear weapons showdown since October. "Hundreds of thousands languish in prison camps, and citizens suffer from malnutrition as the regime pursues weapons of mass destruction," Bush said.
- "Violence, corruption, and mismanagement reign in Zimbabwe, and an authoritarian government in Belarus smothers political dissent."
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