A Cambodian protester holds flags of the United Nations and Cambodia.
Washington:
Lawmakers reviewing the "troubling" state of human rights in Southeast Asia have stiffly criticized Vietnam and Cambodia but reserved some of their toughest words for Myanmar and demanded an end to US concessions to its quasi-civilian government.
The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, likened conditions faced by minority Muslims in western Myanmar to concentration camps. A Democratic lawmaker questioned whether there were signs of genocide.
Wednesday's hearing indicated congressional goodwill toward Myanmar's government has exhausted, and criticism of the Obama administration's forward-leaning engagement policy has intensified.
Lawmakers took aim at Vietnam's suppression of dissent, and the strong-arm tactics of Cambodia's leader Hun Sen.
No lawmakers mentioned Wednesday's presidential election in Indonesia that the White House lauded as sign of its maturing democracy.
The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, likened conditions faced by minority Muslims in western Myanmar to concentration camps. A Democratic lawmaker questioned whether there were signs of genocide.
Wednesday's hearing indicated congressional goodwill toward Myanmar's government has exhausted, and criticism of the Obama administration's forward-leaning engagement policy has intensified.
Lawmakers took aim at Vietnam's suppression of dissent, and the strong-arm tactics of Cambodia's leader Hun Sen.
No lawmakers mentioned Wednesday's presidential election in Indonesia that the White House lauded as sign of its maturing democracy.
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