“While the process of reform is continuing in the right direction, there are significant human rights shortcomings that remain unaddressed, such as discrimination against the Rohingya in Rakhine state and the ongoing human rights violations in relation to the conflict in Kachin State,” said Quintana.

The Special Rapporteur 's report revealed that during interviews conducted with internally displaced persons in camps both in Myitkyina and Waingmaw, and with prisoners in the Myitkyina prison he documented “ allegations of arbitrary arrest and torture during interrogation by the military of Kachin men accused of belonging to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)”.

In Quintana’s report he made recommendations urging the government to investigate these allegations. However it’s highly unlikely the government will follow through with his suggestions given the fact that they have repeatedly denied any such allegations.

Quintana also said that although he welcomed the recent de-escalation of fighting in Kachin state in recent weeks, he’s still very concerned about the humanitarian conditions for large numbers of internally displaced civilians. “I’m particularly concerned about the situation of the 40,000 displaced in non-Government controlled areas of Kachin state, and urge the Government to provide humanitarian organisations with regular access to these areas,” said Quintana during a speech in Geneva. Aid workers in Kachin state say that the actual numbers are much higher than the UN estimates.

Quintana's report also highlighted the government's continued crackdown of public gatherings and freedom of  association. The report noted that police arrested 13 activists for leading a peace march for Kachin state in Rangoon on Sept. 21 of last year. The activists, who were mostly Kachin, were arrested under the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act; a draconian rule left over from when the country was a British colony. The controversial law allows Burma's president to declare any “ organisation to be unlawful”.