The U.N. Security Council in September voted to approve the establishment of an "ongoing independent mechanism" for Myanmar that would collect, consolidate, and preserve evidence of crimes that could be used in an eventual court case.
Lee said the independent mechanism would provide funds for "victim support", including money for criminal cases.
Myanmar has said it "absolutely rejects" that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to rule on its actions. The country is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the Hague-based court.
Non-parties can be referred to the ICC by the U.N. Security Council, though diplomats have said permanent members China and Russia would likely veto any such move. Britain has been drafting a Security Council resolution on Myanmar, but diplomats told Reuters in December it did not include a referral to the ICC.
Lee has been blocked from visiting Myanmar since 2017 over her vocal criticism of its treatment of the Rohingya.
She said Myanmar authorities had turned down her latest request to visit the country. "They responded and reminded me that they had asked the Human Rights Council to replace me so they cannot engage with me," she said.
The human rights record of the civilian government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been a "great disappointment", she said.
Since Suu Kyi swept to power in a landslide election in 2015, 44 journalists have been arrested, according to Athan, a Yangon-based free speech group. That number includes two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, sentenced to seven years after reporting on a military-led massacre of 10 Rohingya. "It really is alarming that Myanmar is taking this path," said Lee. "After 60, 70 years of isolation now is a big chance for them to come out and now they're retreating back into the dark ages, which is very disappointing."
