The United States has determined that the violence against the Rohingya minority committed by Myanmar's military amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity, an official said on Sunday.
"Good to see the admin take this overdue step to hold this brutal regime accountable, which I've pushed for years," he said.
A legal designation of genocide - defined by the UN as acts"committed with intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group" - could be followed by further sanctions and limits on aid, among other penalties against the already-isolated military junta, the New York Times reported.
The Nobel peace laureate, who faced criticism from rights groups for her involvement in the Rohingya case, is now under house arrest and on trial by the same generals she defended at The Hague.