A/HRC/42/50 Liberation Army, none of which have signed the National Ceasefire Agreement of 2015. The Tatmadaw has now turned much of its attention to Rakhine and Chin States, even though the situation in northern Myanmar remains volatile. 56. Although the unilateral ceasefire has resulted in a marked reduction in hostilities in Kachin State, fighting between the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed organizations has continued in northern Shan State. Northern Myanmar remains heavily militarized, contributing to continuing insecurity for the populations. Fighting continued between the Shan State ArmySouth and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. In Shan State, fighting between the Shan State Army-South and the Shan State Army-North began to decline in May 2019, when both sides agreed to cease hostilities after talks aimed at promoting unity among Shan. 57. Throughout the ceasefire, the Tatmadaw and, in one documented case, a militia group have continued to detain men and boys on suspicion of supporting or being members of ethnic armed organizations, and have subjected them to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Some detainees have been released to return to their homes, while the mission received reports that others have been charged under the Unlawful Associations Act, having been forced under torture to say that they are affiliated to such groups. The Tatmadaw also detained people for periods of several days to several weeks to work as porters or in other functions, under conditions amounting to forced labour. The mission also received credible accounts that the whereabouts of persons arrested by the Tatmadaw remain unknown. The Government has the responsibility to investigate such cases and to ensure that they do not amount to enforced disappearances. 58. The mission identified attacks by the Tatmadaw in Shan State that should be further investigated for having been indiscriminate and for precautionary measures not having been taken, such as making every feasible effort to ensure that targets were military objectives. One case involved the killing by the Tatmadaw of one person and the injuring of others when it opened fire on two suspected Ta’ang National Liberation Army fighters in June 2018. Another incident involved the Tatmadaw shooting at two young men in civilian clothing in February 2019, resulting in the death of one of them. 59. Men and boys of fighting age are particularly targeted by Tatmadaw as suspected members of ethnic armed organizations, based on their ethnicity. They have been arrested, detained, tortured or ill-treated, taken for forced labour or killed. Women and children are left vulnerable and displaced in a situation of humanitarian crisis. The recruitment practices of ethnic armed organizations have had a similar adverse gender impact. 60. There are continued concerns regarding conflict-related sexual violence. The mission identified cases between April 2018 and July 2019 where Tatmadaw soldiers subjected women and, in one case, a girl to sexual violence, including rape, gang rape and attempted rape, as well as forced nudity, leading to them being ostracized by their communities and government authorities. The mission also received reports of Tatmadaw soldiers raping and subsequently killing a woman in northern Shan State. In cases verified by the mission, despite the complaints lodged with the authorities, no effective investigations were conducted or sanctions applied against the perpetrators. 61. The mission received credible but limited information that some ethnic armed organizations were responsible, to varying degrees, for the arbitrary deprivation of liberty and the failure to protect the civilian population under their control against the effects of attacks. The mission also received reports of forced recruitment of men and women by some ethnic armed organizations operating in northern Myanmar. 62. The situation of internally displaced persons remains of grave concern in the context of restrictions on humanitarian support. More than 106,500 people have been living in 169 camps in Kachin and Shan States since 2011, 36 per cent of them in contested areas and areas controlled by ethnic armed organizations. United Nations agencies have not been permitted by the Government to deliver assistance in contested areas since June 2016. Access to people within Government-controlled areas continues to decline. There is no effective access to almost 20,000 people in remote areas, as the Government has denied travel authorizations for United Nations humanitarian agencies. Effective humanitarian access has not been granted to 55 per cent of displaced persons, affecting the population’s livelihoods, food security and access to education and health care. The shrinking humanitarian space has heightened the 10