[JURIST] Romanian President Traian Basescu [official website, English version] has told the country's parliament that the "criminal and illegitimate" former Communist regime committed massive human rights violations and crimes against humanity [speech, in Romanian], killing and persecuting as many as two million people between 1945 and 1989 Presenting the 650-page report [PDF text in Romanian] of a special government commission [membership list] established to examine the Communist regime [Wikipedia backgrounder], Basescu listed multiple official crimes committed during the Communist era, including widespread assassinations and deportations, confiscation or demolition of property, starvation, censorship and other repression of dissidents. The commission recommended that a national memorial day and museum be established to remember the victims.

The report is expected to strengthen the cases of victims seeking compensation [Reuters report]. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.