|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS - NOV - 5, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Guardian -
'It was a risk but it paid off'
The Times of India -
Fighting between Myanmar troops, rebels enters third
day
South Nexus - Myanmar Home Minister
meets Advani
BKK Post - Villagers evacuated amid
heavy fighting
The Guardian
'It was a risk but it paid off' A fortnight ago, James Mawdsley was in solitary confinement in a Burmese jail. Now, back in Britain, he tells Oliver Burkeman he has no regrets Friday November 3, 2000 James Mawdsley is sitting in his father's flat in west
London, hollow-eyed with exhaustion, dazed by the flurry of publicity that has
greeted his return to Britain. This is hardly surprising for a man who two weeks
ago was entering his 415th day of solitary confinement in a Burmese prison, one
year into a 17-year sentence for distributing leaflets critical of the country's
brutal military regime.
But there is also a strange kind of homesickness for the place he has left, and a heavy dose of disgust for the one in which he finds himself. "What's regarded as important out there is things like life and death; here, it's designer clothes and luxury ice cream and male cosmetics," he says. He is most at ease talking of the friends he made in jail during his brief periods of socialising, how much laughter there was. He misses the rawness, the reality of it all. "But it's just culture shock. I'll get over it. I'll become just as warped as everyone else." Mawdsley landed at Heathrow the Saturday before last to a
reception that combined admiration, awe, sympathy - and frustration at the
naivety he seemed to have demonstrated in the way he chose to support the cause
of Burmese democracy and its heroic figurehead, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Three times the 27-year-old visited Burma with the
explicit intention of being jailed; three times he was arrested within an hour
of starting to hand out leaflets or play pro-democracy songs. The first time, in
1997, he was swiftly deported; the second, in 1998, he was tortured and served
99 days of a five-year sentence in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, feverish
and under fed in a cell measuring 10ft by 8ft. It was a devastating experience
that left him on the edge of madness.
By the time he returned a third time, in 1999 - in the
certain knowledge that a far longer prison sentence would follow - his
motivations had long surpassed public comprehension. At best, he seemed
foolhardy; at worst, mad or messianic, and a danger to the Burmese he was trying
to help. "People are welcome to say I'm foolish," he says with a shrug. "I mean,
it looks like that, doesn't it? I don't mind them saying that."
He endured savage beatings in Keng Tung, the jail in
north-east Burma where he spent the past year. Fifteen-strong gangs of men
wielding wooden clubs attacked him repeatedly in his cell, leaving him bruised
and bleeding internally. The rest of the time, he was lucky to be out of
solitary for an hour each day; often, he got only 10 minutes. A flourescent
light in his cell was never turned off. His parents could visit only
infrequently; he spent his days doing press-ups and reading what few books the
prison authorities did not confiscate - among them Nelson Mandela's
autobiography and a book by the 15th-century monk Thomas à Kempis, reflecting
his strong Catholic faith.
Mawdsley says he doesn't have the personality of a martyr,
but it's difficult to know how else to interpret his responses to his treatment
in Keng Tung. He refused the authorities' offer to punish his attackers; they
were actually prisoners he counted among his friends, coerced into carrying out
the wishes of the guards. And anyway, "beating someone up is not nice, but it's
very simple-minded - it's not particularly sinister... after the fear I
experienced in Insein prison I will never, ever, ever question again what a man
bows to do." He staged hunger strikes, first at the incarceration of another
political prisoner and later in an effort to receive a transcript of his trial;
he stunned visiting representatives of the junta by answering back. "I gave them
a piece of my mind and they couldn't cope with it," he remembers. "They ended up
walking away."
It is only when conversation moves to the imprisonment of
his Burmese friends that tears well up out of nowhere. "I had a kind of hope,
that I was going to get out of prison and go back to England," he says, his
voice cracking. "Burmese people don't have that hope. When they get out of
prison, they're still in a prison."
He constantly contrasts the reality of "out there" with
the soft, insulated artificiality of "here". "When you're right up against
suffering - and I mean the people of Burma - you're attending to a reality.
We're protected from reality by consumerism and materialism." Sometimes it is
all too easy to hear in his speech echoes of the stereotypical student on a year
out - as if he is really still 19, trapped for almost a decade in a gap year
that has spun horrifyingly out of control. But there is also an almost
incomprehensible degree of rationality - as when, he says, he responded with
delight at hearing of his 17-sentence. "I was thrilled... if they had given me
two years, I'd still be there. Everyone would have thought, well, he was stupid
, he can slog it out. But the junta don't work like that. They overreact;
they're paranoid of dissent." The reasoning makes perfect sense; what is
staggering is that Mawdsley was in any state to think like that.
And he was never a romantic, backpacking, gap-year sort of
student in any case. He was born in Germany but grew up in Ormskirk, Lancashire
- with a twin brother, Jeremy, now a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery - he got
stellar A-level grades, and started a degree in physics and philosophy at
Bristol University. He was a typical student, he says. "If I heard the words
human rights, I just hated the sound of it. I wasn't any kind of campaigner. I
believed completely in the system - I thought I'd work hard, get a good degree,
get a good job, be a nice boy, and it would all check out." And then, aged 20,
he suddenly dropped out.
He still doesn't know exactly what it was that happened to
him. Reading Aung San Suu Kyi's biography Freedom From Fear seems to have played
a part; the way he characterises it, the weight of appalling information simply
became too great to ignore. "If two women in Burma were having hot wax poured on
every inch of their bodies," he remembers thinking, "why aren't we doing
something about it?" It was an epiphany that left him facing a simple logical
imperative: he had to know if what the human rights reports were saying was true
- that Burma's ruling junta was killing tens of thousands of the country's
people in a programme of massacres, torture and slave labour - and to do that he
had to go.
But why did the transformation happen when it did? He has
no idea. "There's a guy, Epictetus, historic Greek - he said you do what you've
got to do. I'll do what I've got to do." What he did was to travel to New
Zealand, where he met a group of Burmese refugees; he made his first border
crossing from Thailand into Burma shortly thereafter. When he returned, life in
Britain seemed petty and meaningless, and he was soon back. The first time he
was arrested, he was handcuffed, kicked and punched; his shins were beaten with
a bamboo stick before he was sent home.
He never feared death, he says - especially after what he
calls "the God thing": the religious experience he underwent two months into his
incarceration at Insein. Previously, he had been a tepid Catholic; afterwards,
he says, "I thought, OK, I'm not here for myself, I'm here to obey him... I have
nothing to fear from man. What can a man do to you?"
Throughout, Mawdsley's parents, David and Diana - a
property manager and a nurse, both with military backgrounds - have played a
role that astonished many. They are divorced, but campaigned energetically in
unison, not just for their son's welfare and release but for his cause as well,
even to the extent of backing his decision to return to certain arrest.
"My mum went out to the border and was nursing there, and
she saw the victims of the suppression. She came back and said: 'James, I
understand why you went.' That was a magic line." When he returned for the last
time, Mawdsley's father tried to persuade him out of it - but when he failed, he
drove him to Heathrow instead, confused and proud and frightened at the same
time. "I've never been a particularly politically aware person," he said later.
"James has made me aware."
But there will not be another return. Mawdsley plans to
write a book, to work for Burma through institutional channels, maybe return to
the Thai border to meet friends from jail when they get released. But the
mission that has occupied the past seven years is complete.
"It's never naive to stand for the truth," he says. "I'm
out in one piece. I'm physically fit; I'm happy - I don't look it, but just give
me another week. People say it's stupid, it's a risk, I could have died... but I
didn't die. It was a risk, but it was a caclulated risk. It paid off. It worked
well." He knew he had won when he stood up to the beatings, refusing to lodge a
complaint, and the authorities relented. "I thought: I've done it. I've
succeeded. They cracked before I did.
"There's a lot of satisfaction in that," he adds
quietly.
The Times of India - Nov 5,
2000.
Fighting between Myanmar troops, rebels enters third day MAE SOT, Thailand: Fighting between Myanmar government
forces and ethnic Karen rebels entered a third day Saturday as the government
troops kept up attempts to seize a rebel base opposite the northern Thai
province of Tak.
More than 400 soldiers belonging to the Myanmar army and
their guerrilla allies in the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army have been attacking
a stronghold of the Karen National Union since Thursday, but have failed to
dislodge the defenders, said KNU officers and Thai officials.
There have been no reports of fatalities on either side. A
KNU guerrilla injured by artillery shrapnel was evacuated for treatment to a
Thai hospital on Friday.
On Saturday the government forces brought in
reinforcements in their attempt to seize the KNU's Wei Na Na Tha camp, opposite
the Thai district of Phoppra, said a guerrilla spokesman on condition of
anonymity.
Thai villagers getting ready to be evacuated from the area
said the Myanmar government forces, using artillery and small arms, pressed
their attack all night Friday until dawn, but without success.
The heavy fighting has led the Thai army to begin the
evacuation of more than 100 Thai villagers in the area. On Friday, two artillery
shells landed on Thai soil but caused no damage or injuries.
Thailand has sent army rangers and militia units to
protect the border in Phoppra, about 370 kilometers (230 miles) northwest of
Bangkok.
The local Thai commander, Col. Phisanu Vacharophas, said
his troops were prepared to defend Thai sovereignty and push back any foreign
troops entering Thai territory.
The KNU has been fighting for regional autonomy since
Myanmar's independence in 1948. It once controlled a large part of the country's
eastern border region, but in recent years lost its last major enclaves along
the border with Thailand. Its forces, thought to number 2,000 to 3,000, now
fight in mobile guerrilla units.
It is the only major ethnic army that has refused to sign
a cease-fire with the military regime of Myanmar. The government has brokered
deals with at least 15 other armies.
The KNU has said it will give up its armed struggle if its
political rights are guaranteed. (AP)
South Nexus
Myanmar Home Minister meets Advani NEW DELHI, Nov 05: Myanmar Home Minister Col Tin Hlaing,
who held talks with Home Minister L K Advani here, on Saturday assured that his
Government will not allow Indian insurgents to have bases in Myanmar.
Col Hlaing, who is on a nine-day visit to India, told
reporters that priority would be given by the two countries to develop the
common border areas. He said the police forces of the two countries faced the
same challenges.
The visiting Minister said the issue of the mistaken
killing of three Assam Rifles personnel by Myanmarese Army last month did not
figure in the 45 minute talks with Advani at the North Block.
He said the incident had been taken up at Friday's meeting
with Defence Minister George Fernandes and will be sorted out by the militaries
of the two countries.
India and Myanmar will also improve lines of communication
and cooperation in the trade and commerce sectors, the Minister who is making
his third visit in the last five years, said.
Col Hlaing also held talks with External Affairs Minister
Jaswant Singh where measures to further strengthen institutional mechanism to
check cross-border insurgency, gun running and terrorism came up.
The Myanmar Minister's visit comes in the wake of efforts
being taken by the two countries to ensure peace and tranquility in the border
areas.
India and Myanmar during on Friday and Saturday's meeting
also reviewed bilateral economic relations and felt the need to expand these by
creating infrastructure to facilitate more border trade.
The two sides expressed satisfaction over smooth
functioning of institutional mechanism to curb insurgency in the two countries.
It was felt that field level and sectoral contacts were satisfactory.
Col Tin Hlaing is accompanied by Aung Thein, Director
General, General Administration Department, and Lt Col Kham Aung, Director
(International Relations) Law Enforcement Department.
He will visit the Narcotics Training Centre, Faridabad,
NSG Training Centre, Manesar, Central Forensic Science Laboratory and the
National Police Academy at Hyderabad and the Indian Police Research Organisation
at Bangalore.
He will also go to Calcutta, Agra and Bodh
Gaya.
Bangkok Post - Nov 5,
2000.
Villagers evacuated amid heavy fighting Supamart Kasem in Tak Thirty-three families were evacuated from a village along
the Moei river early yesterday as Burmese soldiers bombarded a Karen National
Union stronghold opposite Phop Phra district.
The evacuation of 143 villagers from Ban Huay Nam Nak
began after 4am when Burmese soldiers of the 205th Light Infantry Battalion of
the 22nd Division and 400 troops of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army opened
fire at the KNU with mortars, recoilless guns and M79 grenade
launchers.
The KNU's 6th Division under Capt Ther Khee and All Burma
Students' Democratic Front fighters under Bo Yan Naing returned fire with
mortars and RPGs.
The exchange of fire ended at about 9am with unknown
casualties.
About 100 Thai soldiers of the Fourth Infantry Regiment
Task Force were deployed along the border opposite the battle ground. Chief of
staff Col Pisanu Vacharopas said they were prepared to prevent incursions across
the border.
A KNU source said 800 fresh Burmese troops were sent to
the border opposite Tak's Tha Song Yang district on Friday. The KNU was
preparing to despatch reinforcements from the 7th Division to the battlefield
yesterday morning.
About 50 Karen villagers were forced to flee to Ban Huay
Nam Nak on the Thai side of the border on Friday.
|