"ND-Burma?s biannual report on the human rights situation has found that intense conflict between the military and ethnic armed organisations has been accompanied by a spike in the number of human rights violations recorded. In Kachin and northern Shan states the military committed human rights violations against civilians during armed conflict, including: indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombing of civilian areas; looting and destruction of property; and using those fleeing conflict as human shields and minesweepers. As part of the military?s ongoing campaign against ethnic armed organisations, soldiers have continued to arbitrarily arrest and torture ethnic nationality civilians accused of supporting insurgents. A 41-year-old man interviewed for the report was tortured for four days by Burma army soldiers after being accused of providing rice to the Kachin Independence Army, telling ND-Burma that soldiers beat him ?as if they were pounding sticky rice to become powder.”..."