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My nightmare - Mother tells of her



THE JOURNAL (Newcastle, UK) 

October 20, 1999, Wednesday Edition

My nightmare - Mother tells of her anguish as Burmese block prison visit 

BYLINE: by Peter Mccusker 

 
   THE mother of jailed pro-democracy campaigner James Mawdsley said last 
night that cruel blocking tactics of the Burmese Embassy were preventing her 
from seeing her son. 

And Diana Mawdsley also sharply criticised the Foreign Office for failing to 
condemn the "savagery" of James's sentence, knowing he has already been 
threatened with torture. 

Mr Mawdsley was jailed by the Burmese for 17 years in early September for 
pro-democracy activities. 

Since then his family have been pressing the Burmese Embassy in Britain for 
permission to see him and assurances he has not been harmed. 

But those efforts have hit a brick wall thanks to the monumental intransigence 
of the embassy. 

"Dealing with the Burmese Embassy is a Kafkaesque nightmare," said Mrs 
Mawdsley, of Brancepeth, Durham City. 

"My visa expired on October 13 and every day since it was granted in
September I 
rang them up to ask if I could visit him in jail. 

"There was never anyone there who could give me an answer. It was either that 
no-one was in, or it was the wrong time. 

"They would never hang the phone up. They would just say there was no-one 
there who could give me an answer. 

"It has got to the stage now where they recognise my voice and won't speak
to me. 
They just say there is no-one in to take my call." 

James's family are still waiting for the British Government to condemn the
sentence 
imposed on him. 

"We have been waiting for an answer from Robin Cook for over three weeks. 
We want the Government to condemn the savage sentence imposed on James. 

"The Foreign Office has known for over a month that James has been threatened 
with torture. What are they doing about it?" 

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Mr Mawdsley has not complained to us about 
being threatened with torture. 

"Mr Cook will reply to the Mawdsley family and any issues relating to the
sentence 
will be dealt with then." 

He went on to say the Foreign Office did not want to prejudge that letter. 

The Journal has also contacted the embassy in a bid to find out the truth
about 
Mr Mawdsley's plight - only to meet the same stalling tactics. 

Despite following instructions to fax questions to the embassy, they
refused to 
answer questions and hung up the phone. 

Yesterday James's father David went to the embassy with Mrs Mawdsley's
passport 
in an effort to get a new visa. 

"He asked if he should post it or hand it in. An official replied "Please
Yourself"," 
said Diana.  

It was a similar story when Mrs Mawdsley wrote to ask for assurances her
son would 
not be tortured. This is the one and only time she has received a written
reply to any query. 

>From Kywat Kywat Khaing, the second secretary, it said: "It would be
improper for 
the Ambassador to give any assurance on a judicial case 7,000 miles away in
writing. 

"He asked me to remind you that the rightness and wrongness of things do
not count 
in the face of codes and laws. Only the laws count." 

James Mawdsley, 26, a former pupil at Hexham's Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form
College 
was arrested On September 1, in the Burmese market town of Tachileck. He
was jailed 
for 17 years for entering the country without a visa, and possessing
pro-democracy 
literature. He is being held in Keng Tung prison. 

This is the third time he has been arrested in Burma for his pro-democracy 
activities. During his detainment last summer was tortured 

In a communication he dictated to the British Consul in Burma and given to
his family 
he spoke of how he had been threatened with torture. He said: "I point
blank refused 
to answer any but the most harmless of questions and I did not sign any
papers or 
statements. 

"I told them I do not acknowledge the legitimacy of this regime. For taking
this stand 
I was clearly and specifically threatened with torture. 

"However I do not believe they will carry this out so long as there is
outside interest 
in my case."  

But Mrs Mawdsley added: "While the case remains high profile we do not believe 
he will be tortured."  

Earlier this week Mrs Mawdsley also wrote to Tony Blair asking him to condemn 
the "savagery" of James's sentence. 


After approaching the Burmese Embassy last week we were told to fax them the 
questions we wanted to ask. 

On Friday a woman who refused to give her name or position said there was
no-one 
in the department that dealt with faxes. 

Yesterday after getting through to someone who could deal with questions the 
conversation went as follows: 

The Journal: Have you received our fax with questions relating to the James 
Mawdsley case? 

Embassy official. We will not answer questions on that case. I am sorry
about that. 

The Journal: As the person designated to answer questions from the Press, 
it seems strange you cannot answer the questions from newspapers about a
matter 
of interest to our readers? 

Embassy official: There are many other questions about some other matters
to deal 
with. We are very, very busy now. 

The Journal: Is it not your job to assist newspapers? If I ring later will
you be able 
to answer my questions on Mr Mawdsley? 

Embassy official: No, No. We have no comment to make on that question. 

Then he hung up the telephone. 


GRAPHIC: No answer: James's mother Diana cannot get the Burmese authorities 
to grant permission for her to visit him in jail - despite repeated attempts. 




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