An error in drafting a 1995 amendment to the Criminal Code meant face-to-face harrassment was not included.

But yesterday Human Affairs Minister Jerome Dill said a three-line amendment to the law would solve the problem.

He said: "What this will do is make it absolutely crystal clear that the offence of racial harrassment can be committed by means of oral communications as well as by other means.

"It provides that if a person uses racial slurs while face-to-face with another person, he or she can now be prosecuted for having committed a criminal offence.'' Up until now, racial harrassment by phone, fax or e-mail was covered by the 1995 legislation -- but prosecutors hands were tied in face-to-face confrontations.

Mr. Dill said the problem was caused by "an oversight'' on the part of legal draftsmen in the Attorney General's Chambers.

But he added: "My principal focus is not to apportion blame to anyone. My main focus is if there is a difficulty in the law, fix it.

"We were in the strange position of being able to act on offences over the radio, telephone -- but not on a face-to-face basis.

"You could use a racial epithet to someone's face, but you couldn't do it over the phone.'' And he said that people were still prosecuted for racial offences -- but not under the 1995 provision, which prosecutors found useless in cases of verbal abuse.

The amendment to the law will be tabled by Mr. Dill in the House of Assembly tomorrow.

And Mr. Dill said: "I'm confident it will have the full support of both sides of the House.'' And he added: "Our fundamental focus is on protecting people from discrimination. Period.'' He said: "We are working behind the scenes to wipe out racism and punish those who perpetuate it.'' Mr. Dill said that a male employee of an Island company had been awarded $75,000 for race discrimination after contacting the Human Rights Commission.

He explained the middle-aged black worker had complained he had been passed over for promotion and bonuses over years without explanation.

Mr. Dill -- who declined to identify the man or the firm -- said the Commission launched a probe and found the man had been victim of racial discrimination. The Human Rights Commission subsequently met with them and negotiated a settlement.

The Human Rights Act carries penalties of jail terms of up to three years and stiff fines for offenders.

He added: "This Government intends to all in its power to stamp out racism in this Country -- we will not tolerate it.

"The latest amendment, to be debated in a few weeks' time, is another weapon in our arsenal to make Bermuda a far more tolerant society in which we can all live together.'' DISCRIMINATION DIS