[Media-watch] Hutton's History

[Stephen McKee]

I can't vouch for the source, but I thought this was worth sharing anyway:

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A history of Hutton's life, from Bloody Sunday cover up to Pinochet affair 
to Iraq war lies.
So Who the Hell is Hutton?
By Re-Sista! 28/1/04


Upon his resignation as BBC chairman Gavyn Davies commented on the 
irreconcilable contradictions between Hutton's "bald conclusions" and the 
balance of evidence presented to the actual Inquiry.


Even BBC political editor Andrew Marr comments on Huttons underlying 
assumptions and background, making him more likely to believe and trust 
certain social groups: "again and again, he comes down on the side of 
politicians and officials."


So who is Hutton, and what is in his background to come to these 
extraordinary conclusions? What has lead to the reports extraordinary 
absolution of Blair's war lies and attack on journalistic freedom?


The 72 year old Baron Hutton of Bresagh, County of Down, North Ireland, is a 
classic representative of the British ruling establishment. A member of the 
Anglo-Irish elite, he was educated at Shewsbury all boys boarding school, 
and then Balliol, Oxford, before entering the exclusive club of the British 
Judiciary. Whilst British
Judges are overwhelmingly conservative, upper class, white, male and biased, 
Hutton's background is even more compromised.

His name will be familiar to residents of the Six counties of Ulster. During 
the bloody thrity years war Hutton was an instrument of British state 
repression, starting in the late 1960's as junior counsel to the Northern 
Ireland attorney general, and by 1988 rising to the top job of Lord Chief 
Justice of Northern Ireland.


Hutton spent his career as Judge and Jury in the notorious northern Ireland 
kangaroo 'Diplock Courts'. These were special non-Jury courts, condemned by 
human rights advocates for their miscarriages of justice. He was hated for 
this role by the families of the many innocent catholics wrongly convicted 
here.

Hutton distinguished himself after the Bloody Sunday massacre of civil 
rights protesters in 1972. He played a key role in the ensuing judicial 
cover-up called the Widgery Inquiry which absolved British troops of Murder. 
This miscarriage of justice is only now being investigated by the current 
Saville inquiry.

Then in 1978 he represnted the British Government before the European Court 
of Human Rights, defending it against a ruling that it abused and maltreated 
detainees from the conflict.

However, he will be remembered in the rest of the UK for his role in the 
1999 Pinochet affair. Another senior Judge, Lord Hoffman had contributed to 
the decision to arrest and extradite the notorious former dicator of Chile 
and mass murderer General Pinochet during his visit to Britain.

As a law lord, Hutton led the rightwing attack on Lord Hoffman, on the 
excuse that Hoffman's links to the human rights group amnesty international 
invalidated Pinochets arrest! Lord Hutton said "public confidence in the 
integrity of the administration of justice would be shaken" if Lord 
Hoffman's ruling was not overturned.

More recently, Hutton was also involved in the ruling that David Shayler, 
the former MI5 agent, could not argue he was acting in the public interest 
by revealing secrets.

This history of intimate links with, and knowledge of Britains secret 
military intelligence operations meant he could be a trusted pair of hands 
when it came to the Kelly affair.

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