A petition by thousands of Americans is urging the United States to press for a UN-led probe into alleged crimes against humanity in Myanmar, saying the country needs accountability to move ahead.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International urged the European Union and its member states to also lend their support to the establishment of a UN commission of inquiry.

See AFP’s reports here and here.

The US Campaign for Burma said that 13,000 US citizens signed the petition.

"Justice is a crucial part of national reconciliation in any country. Burma cannot move forward until these attacks stop and the rule of law is realized," executive director Aung Din said in a statement, using Myanmar's earlier name.

The past year has seen an escalation in fighting as the military has pushed further into areas populated by Shan, Karen and Kachin peoples, bordering China, Laos and Thailand.

The US State Department and rights groups say that Myanmar's military has razed villages, forced villagers into labor and used rape as a weapon of war in its campaign against rebels from the country’s non-Burmese communities.

The United States has publicly supported a UN-led Commission of Inquiry into possible crimes against humanity but has done little to make the idea a reality.

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a recent interview with AFP, said that a UN probe would help bring "future harmony and forgiveness" and "has nothing to do with revenge."

Amnesty has slammed the EU's 'wait-and-sea' approach to Burmese abuses as "irresponsible."

"We have waited for years, even decades, and seen quite enough: these violations call for accountability," the group's Myanmar researcher said (see here).

'Systematic rape'

Also this week, human rights activists are reporting 'systematic rape' against ethnic Kachin women during operations in by government forces that have displaced tens of thousands.

At least 37 rapes have been reported during September areas where government troops are active. Victims include females aged 12 to 50. (See report here). A 12-year old was raped by troops in front of her mother.

David Scott Mathieson, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, added:

“The use of sexual violence is one of the most serious within a whole litany of abuses that include forced labour, torture and ill-treatment and extra-judicial execution.”