THE Human Rights Commission (HRC) yesterday denied criticising Shadow Finance Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin for lodging a complaint against a Government Senator's use of the words "house nigger" during a live radio broadcast.

And the human rights watchdog took to task for "unfair" reporting which implied the HRC had accused the Opposition MP of making the complaint against Sen. David Burch for "political sport for personal ends".

According to board chairman Rod Attride-Stirling, such reporting could make residents reluctant to bring discrimination cases before the HRC, an organisation already challenged by the inefficiency of the Human Rights Act.

"What may put people off from making a complaint to the HRC is the manner in which has reported what's happened," he said. "Getting fair reporting is something that's very rare.

"We put out a one-page press release. They put our comments in the wrong context and set the hearing in a horrible light. Anyone reading would have thought our decision was scary, even me and I know what was said by the HRC."

Mr. Attride-Stirling insisted that the statements were intended as a blanket reminder to all politicians following a series of "to and fros" which seemed intent on politicising the serious issue of human rights. "We were referring to the various complaints that related to politicians which started with the Premier," Mr. Attride-Stirling said. "Following that decision, there were a string of political attacks on the HRC.

"And what the HRC said was that in respect of all the mud-slinging, we would not get drawn into that political debate. It was certainly not intended to be perceived as an attack on Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, as was reported.

"The comment was directed at politicians generally. It was not intended to be an attack on Patricia Gordon-Pamplin. Everyone is entitled to make a complaint. has created this political image of the HRC when, in fact, most of our members have no affiliation with politics.

"What we did was to call on public servants to exercise their freedom of expression responsibly ? and that was clearly aimed at Senator Burch."

The May 17 article in the directly links Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin to the following statement, issued by the HRC: "While the HRC advocates the fundamental democratic right of free speech and welcomes constructive criticism, it encourages all persons, particularly representatives of the people, to be mindful and to exercise discretion so as not to reduce this or any public body to political sport for personal ends. Such irresponsibility brings with it only further contention and does not, in the opinion of the HRC serve the interests of this community."

The newspaper article said the HRC press release, from which the quote was taken, never referred to Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin by name.

As a result of the incident, the HRC is today running a full-page advertisement in the , in an attempt to remove any confusion over its remarks.

"I think we will continue to receive the same volume of complaints," he said. "The vast majority of our cases involve issues of discrimination in the workplace. The legislation was set up as anti-discrimination legislation. It doesn't deal with a lot of human rights issues."

It was for that reason the HRC had been calling for an overhaul of the Human Rights Act for years, Mr. Attride-Stirling added.

"We've been on the record for some time now saying the legislation is out-of-date and needs to be wholly revised. We've made various recommendations on minor amendments ? one of those we suggested is the sexual orientation amendment. But the Act is in need of a complete overhaul. It's something we have been saying for a number of years."

He said the 1981 Human Rights Act is based on a Canadian act which has since been replaced. Asked what was holding up the improved legislation, he said: "It's the ordinary speed that legislation changes go through in Bermuda. There's nothing malicious in the delay. It's just going through the usual process."

The drafting of new legislation would fall to the Attorney General's chambers, he said.

"The sooner it's done the better. Some things are needed urgently ? sexual orientation discrimination could have been addressed with a quick amendment. It's a crying shame it wasn't."