George Bush: “Flame for freedom cannot be extinguished by tyrants” :: Charter'97 :: News

“The American people believe that the flame for freedom burns in every human heart, and that light cannot be extinguished by governments, terrorists, or tyrants,” a Proclamation by the President of the United States of America George Bush on Captive Nations Week, 2007 reads. The president noted that: “Freedom is reaching around the world, and America is working side-by-side with new democracies in Liberia, Mauritania, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan,” however nations such as Belarus, Burma, Cuba, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Sudan, and Zimbabwe “still oppress their citizens”.

The US will help democracy fighters abroad. “My Administration recently created the Human Rights Defenders Fund to provide grants for the legal defense and medical expenses of democratic dissidents arrested or beaten by repressive governments,” the president noted.

Underlining that “expanding freedom is a moral imperative”, the head of the White House reminded that the US “underscore their commitment to protecting human rights, advancing democracy and freedom, and ending tyranny across the globe”.

Recalling recent elections in Kuwait, in which women were able to vote and run for office for the first time, the US President stated his nation continues to stand firmly behind the citizens of Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq as they defend their democratic gains.