although Opposition MPs called for it to have many more teeth.

Moves for Government to be subject to the legislation were particularly welcomed in the House of Assembly.

But there were calls for age discrimination to be brought under the Act.

And Government was put under pressure to give the Human Rights Commission powers to initiate investigations.

Community Affairs and Culture Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons outlined the purpose of the Human Rights Amendment Act 1992.

Some of the key proposed amendments to the Act are aimed at: Rremoving the right of employers to demand job applicants tell them about their sex, marital status, and number of their children.

Outlawing sex discrimination in sports administration.

Requiring employers help find jobs for the disabled.

Protecting people from harassment by landlords, employers and employees.

Requiring the Commission to make annual reports to the Minister.

Ensuring the Act can be enforced on Government.

Mr. Gibbons said human rights legislation had been a particular "concern of mine.'' He highlighted its aim to prevent women being treated as "second class citizens.'' Mr. Gibbons described human rights issues as dynamic, and said the legislation was designed to set up a code of behaviour.

"It is a fine example of building a Bermuda consensus.'' Shadow Minister of Community Affairs Mr. Reginald Burrows said the PLP was very happy with the amendments.

He said they would introduce a code of ethics to prevent harassment in the workplace.

But it was sad in 1992 legislation had to be brought in to protect the majority from the minority.

Mr. Burrows also called for the Commission to be given powers to instigate an investigation.

He highlighted the Rodney King beating case in the United States in which white Police officers were acquitted.

"We feel black men in particularly sometimes are treated very roughly and unfairly by the criminal justice system.

"We feel the Human Rights Commission should have the power to investigate.'' Mr. Burrows welcomed moves to help employ the disabled, spotlighting the plight of a local stroke victim fired from his job.

He went on to attack the appointment system for the Commission.

Too often the Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan had made up his own mind about the appointees.

On sexual harassment, Mr. Burrows focussed on a potential problem.

"It is difficult to prove, often with one person's word against the other.

That's is going to cause problems.'' Minister of Delegated and Legislative Affairs the Hon. Sir John Sharpe highlighted the Bill's clause on Government accountability.

This was probably the most significant of the proposed amendments, he added.

In many countries, the Crown was immune from prosecution under human rights legislations.

He said Government here had accepted public feeling it should have accountability.

National Liberal Party leader Mr. Gilbert Darrell said Bermuda should receive a pat on the back for its human rights stand.

In other parts of the world, including Europe, human rights were being eroded.

The phrase "ethnic cleansing'' had become part of the vocabulary.

"Bermudians should be congratulated in pushing Government to do this,'' he said.

Mr. Darrell warned, however, about the danger of human behaviour becoming very "mechanical'' through increased legislation.

Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward also congratulated Mr. Gibbons over the legislation, which he described as a "progressive step.'' He said he imagined the Minister had overcome some resistance to bring the legislation to the House.

Welcoming Government accountability to the Act, Mr. Hayward said it was "morally wrong'' otherwise.

But Mr. Hayward called for the Act to be tougher, and produced a catalogue of alleged deficiencies.

The Human Rights Commission should have the power to start investigations, he said.

He gave the example of a non-Bermudian fired and then deported before the Commission could look into his complaint.

"It could happen that the complaint is never heard.'' Mr. Hayward said the Commission should also have the right to put evidence before an board of inquiry.

Currently, evidence from the Commission is only produced if specifically requested.

"It could mean justice being denied. Surely that flies in the face of Human Rights legislation.'' Mr. Hayward said the Commission should also be entitled to appear as a witness before an inquiry board.

Another flaw, said Mr. Hayward, was not granting the proposed amendments "primacy'' over previous legislation.

Mr. Hayward continued by attacking the lack of age discrimination laws.

In Canada, there was such legislation, and thus a precedent had been set, he added.

Mr. Hayward went on to call for more widespread power of appointing members to the Commission.

Government should not be allowed to stack the Commission with its "cronies and sympathisers.'' Said Mr. Hayward: "Government should extend the power of appointments, which must be impartially made.'' Another much-needed legislative plank was one giving right of access to information.

And people in prison, particularly for traffic offences, should also not lose the right to vote.

"That is a draconian penalty for a traffic offender. I hope the Minister takes that on board.'' Mr. Hayward welcomed the Bill's proposal to extend the time within which complaints may be made to the Commission. "This is a very good move.'' Education Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons said the proposed amendments marked another milestone in Bermuda's human rights legislation -- and history would recognise that.

And he particularly applauded the way the status of women had been enhanced in society.

"We need as men to develop a greater sensitivity and get away from the 19th century notion that women are an extension of men and another piece of property.'' Mr. Simons said making Government accountable to the Act reflected its recognition of public discomfit.

He went on to welcome moves to curb employers' rights to information from job applicants, and help the disabled or "physically challenged.'' Shadow Minister of Delegated Affairs Mr. Stanley Morton also applauded the Bill.

"It's unfortunate that it's necessary to have this act to control people's behaviour.'' It was important, however, to appreciate the dangers of people misinterpreting well intended comments.

Interpretation of comments often hinged on the mood of individuals at the time, said Mr. Morton.

Mr. Morton picked out the example of commonplace telephone conversations.

Often the word "love'' was used innocently, but could be misinterpreted and given an added meaning.

A danger of the Act would be to make Bermudians "cold and more mechanical'' in their behaviour.

Mr. Morton said the Human Rights Act stemmed from race problems, but much more needed to be done to solve them.

He went on to welcome making the Crown subject to the legislation. This had been caused by distrust of Government.

It was important for all people to be accountable under the Act.

Mr. Morton also called for young people to be better protected from harassment.

This meant giving the Human Rights Commission bigger teeth, and allowing it to start investigations.

Mrs. Grace Bell (UBP) said Mr. Morton's speech bordered on trivialising sexual harassment. She called on young victims of unwanted approaches to be able to give evidence by video camera. And she said that none of the crimes against human rights mentioned in the Bill were new. She said disabled people had been "shunted aside'' for many years and had had to fight to get ahead. She looked forward to the day when such people would have opportunities matching their capabilities.

A lot more needed to be done to achieve fairness in the workplace for women, and secrecy surrounding wages needed to be removed.

Non-Bermudians who were victims of human rights abuses needed to feel they could come forward and have their cases investigated without fear of their employers having them thrown off the Island. She knew of cases where foreign workers had given up their jobs under threats from employers.

Mr. Eugene Cox (PLP) said MPs should deal with the question of women being in many ways the least powerful members of society. They were forced to have this role "in the established scheme of things'', yet in the black community women had always played a very leading role.

"There is a bit of a contradiction,'' he said. As far as he and the black community were concerned, women had always been liberated. Because of historical circumstances, they had been forced and allowed to have a leading role.

He said the Bill would not be effective if Bermudians felt hopeless because an offending employer could pull strings in Government.

He asked if a charter of human rights was needed, in the form of a small booklet in ordinary language, so residents could be aware of their rights.

He wanted the amendments to be backed up with machinery to ensure implementation.

The Hon. Quinton Edness (UBP), Minister of Health, Social Services and Housing said employers needed to have a change of attitudes regarding the employment of handicapped persons.

Women needed to be treated equally in promotion and other aspects of work.

"They need to given equal pay in every way for doing an equal job,'' he said.

"That does not happen.'' People need not fear reprisals when speaking out about abuses of their rights because the Act protected them, he said. A non-Bermudian would not be sent home because the commission would be able to halt any such action until the case was heard.

As for Mr. Burrows' point about letting the commission instigate its own investigations, he said this was not an easy consideration and need consultation.

Mr. Harry Viera (Ind.) said he was not "overly impressed'' with the Bill. He called for the inclusion of a right for women not to be "stalked'' by ex-husbands or other men. There was such a right in many US states, he said.

Shadow Environment Minister Mr. Julian Hall said: "The problem I have in dealing with any legislation put forward by the UBP which concerns itself with with human rights is the fundamental problem I have of finding any real evidence that UBP understands human rights.'' For well over a decade Government had stridently opposed making itself subject to the Human Rights Act, setting a poor example.

The only people who really seemed to be using the machinery of the Act were those kinds of people who in previous times, in perhaps bygone times, could only have been characterised as out and out racists.

"We have a lot of people who under the guise of the protection of the Human Rights Act set out to infringe the fundamental right to freedom of expression.

"Those of us who try to speak openly about institutional racism and about racism where it exists find ourselves either accused of incitement to racial hatred under the Human Rights Act or of almost inciting racial hatred.'' For 11 years, under the Act, it had been an offence to refuse to train or transfer or promote an employee because of race. But he asked the House to look at the Bank of Bermuda, the Bank of Butterfield, The Royal Gazette and the utilities -- at institutions with "real power''.

"Why has the Bank of Bermuda not one black person on its executive?'' he asked.

Promising black men suddenly found themselves subject to Police investigation, unemployed and being criticised in the Press, he said. "All of a sudden black professionals and semi-professionals with promise in major institutions are not only being shunted out of the back door, but are being shunted out of the back door under a cloud.

"From information that comes to me, in many cases accusations are being made against certain individuals for activities which been practised for decades by the very bankers and very individuals under whom they act.'' Mr. Hall continued by criticising residents who called for the re-introduction of punishments like the birch and the cat-o'-nine-tails. He said violence led to violence, and some of his young clients who were accused of violent crimes had come from homes where discipline was enforced by beating.

Turning to his comment last week about "Johnny-come-lately'' British reporters, he had not meant the remark to be xenophobic. He had no problem with British reporters coming to the Island to work, but knew Bermudian reporters who had greater understanding of Bermuda's social history.

"Ultimately what we see is opinion-making, made in a very skewed way, ultimately against the interests of Bermudians generally.'' Black Royal Gazette reporters would understand he was "a black professional dealing with an economic situation of institutional racism who has to fight for everything he gets''.

If the two main parties held hands in a battle against institutional racism, then "nothing could stop us'', he said.

What was needed was a human rights act with real teeth, that introduced real affirmative action programmes to redress the "bizarre imbalance'' in society.

Continued in Monday's edition.