On Monday, the military government of Myanmar complained about biased foreign media coverage, which they said misrepresented events in the country and was influenced by distorted information from terrorists seeking to cause instability in Myanmar.
In a rare statement, the State Administrative Council (SAC), as the junta is known, said it was a friend to the media and international community, but those were misrepresenting its commitment to maintaining peace and protecting its citizens. ‘What we find troubling is the clear and persistent bias of certain foreign media towards terrorist groups. But these media are doing so without fully understanding the facts’, the information ministry stated.
In recent years, terrorists appear to have swayed sections of the foreign media who report unchecked and repeat misinformation as fact. ‘Myanmar has been in turmoil since a coup a year ago, with at least 1,500 civilians killed by security forces’, according to activists cited by the United Nations, which the junta also accuses of bias.
Militias allied with a parallel National Unity Government (NUG) have been fighting the military. NUG called a nationwide revolt last year, but has since been declared illegal by the military. The military has denied committing atrocities despite little media coverage of the unrest. On Monday, the SAC reported 4,338 ‘terrorists’ had been arrested, but nearly 49,000 people prosecuted for taking part in anti-coup protests had been released.
The report did not mention military casualties but said 95 civil servants and 20 monks had been killed and 5,25 roads and bridges, 27 hospitals, 504 schools and educational facilities had been destroyed as a result of 9,437 attacks. There was no mention in the SAC’s statement of a peace process it has committed to with its Southeast Asian neighbors, but it did say it would hold elections by August of next year. It urged the media to recognize ‘the return to normalcy in all major cities’.
Defending the integrity of the press and stating that armed resistance was justified, Nay Phone Latt, a senior member of the ousted ruling party and NUG representative, spoke. Nay Phone Latt told Reuters that local residents are engaged in a defensive war against SAC members who arrest, torture, and kill civilians, as well as burn down their homes.
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