President Bush Announces New Sanctions Against the Military Government of Myanmar

President Bush announced new sanctions against Myanmar's military government on Friday. He spoke from the Diplomatic Reception Room, and was flanked by his wife Laura, who has been an outspoken critic of the Myanmar government's abuse of human rights, and by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has also addressed this issue.

Bush, referring to Myanmar by its previous name of Burma, said that "Burma's rulers continue to defy the world's just demands to stop their vicious persecution."

The new sanctions include extending sanctions to eleven more members of the Myanmar government and to twelve more individuals and organizations, and tightening export control regulations. These sanctions are in addition to the ones the U.S. imposed last month.

Bush called for the Myanmar government to give humanitarian organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, access to political prisoners; to allow pro-democracy movement leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained leaders to communicate with each other; and to let United Nations Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who is travelling in the region and apparently has not yet gotten permission to re-enter Myanmar, into the country immediately.

Bush applauded the efforts of the European Union, Australia, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia. He asked other nations -- significantly, singling out China and India -- "to review their own laws and policies."