Article in "Private Eye" on CCHR
John Ritson
Hash: SHA1
"An ex-police officer with close connections to the Church of
Scientology, which opposes psychiatric medicine, served as a panel
member in professional conduct cases held by the doctor's watchdog, the
General Medical Council, which has lost its battle to cover up its
handling of the affair.
Between 2002 and 2004 former Detective Chief Superintendent Chris
Brightmore sat on the GMC's professional conduct panel in 70 cases and
more than 50 private hearings. The extent of Brightmore's work for the
GMC was uncovered by campaigner William Thackeray, who has also made
dozens of freedom of information requests to public bodies revealing the
gifts and donations received from Scientology-related organisations.
Scientology is opposed to psychiatric medicine and ranks psychiatrics
(along with communists and ex-Scientologists) as its enemies. In one GMC
hearing in 2004, a psychiatrist's defence alleged that Scientologists
were involved in bringing the case against him. The transcript of the
hearing reveals that the panel's chairman then checked whether any
panellist was linked to the organisation - and was told they weren't.
Later, after an adjournment, the chairman announced that in a previous
job Brightmore had in fact 'cause to look at some work that Scientology
was doing in relation to drug addiction as I understand it, and had some
contacts with Scientology at that stage and has spoken and referred to
the work in subsequent meetings'.
Brightmore stood down from that hearing, but his reference to having
'some contact' through his police work with Scientology's addiction
scheme Narconon was far from full disclosure of his connection to the
cult.
Brightmore had previously served as a commissioner on the Citizen's
Commission for Human Rights (CCHR), a group founded by Scientologists to
expose what they call 'psychiatric violations of human rights' and in
2001 he took 'great pleasure in opening the Crime and Fraud section of
the CCHR's Exhibit on psychiatry', according to a press release at the
time. Brightmore also appears in a 2003 photo of the ribbon-cutting at
the grand opening of the Church of Scientology International European
Office in Brussels.
The GMC refused to reveal its internal communications relating to
Brightmore and Scientology. But the Information Tribunal ruled last
month that 'it was wrong of [Brightmore] to have withheld this
connection from the GMC' and that 'there is a legitimate public interest
in disclosure to reveal what the GMC did about the facts once they had
come to light'.
It added 'We consider that if he had made his involvement with the CCHR
known it is unlikely that he would have been considered suitable for
appointment as a panellist or at the very least, not suitable to sit on
hearings involving psychiatrists.'
The tribunal ordered the GMC to hand over documents relating to how it
handled the embarrassing situation. Unless they decide to appeal, that
information should be released within the next month."
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John Ritson *** "from our CCHR International Headquarters, we have strengthened
all efforts towards obliterating the source of suppression in society." David
Miscavige - December 2004 ***
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Jens Tingleff
Hash: SHA1
John Ritson wrote:
[......]
> The GMC refused to reveal its internal communications relating to
> Brightmore and Scientology. But the Information Tribunal ruled last
> month that 'it was wrong of [Brightmore] to have withheld this
> connection from the GMC' and that 'there is a legitimate public interest
> in disclosure to reveal what the GMC did about the facts once they had
> come to light'.
> It added 'We consider that if he had made his involvement with the CCHR
> known it is unlikely that he would have been considered suitable for
> appointment as a panellist or at the very least, not suitable to sit on
> hearings involving psychiatrists.'
Mwahahahahaa!
The GMC was almost certainly genuinely hoodwinked, but let's hope they're
able to move on from having been told that covering up is not the way to
learn from a mistake.
Best Regards
Jens
- --
Key ID 0x09723C12, jens...@tingleff.org
Analogue filtering / 5GHz RLAN / Mandriva Linux / odds and ends
http://www.tingleff.org/jensting/ +44 1223 510 708
"The only way to fight a woman is to grab your hat and run" A Quinn
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