The Human Rights Commission has produced an on-time annual report — for the first time in five years.

The document was tabled in the House of Assembly by Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Wayne Perinchief on Friday in accordance with the Human Rights Act.

Annual reports for 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 were not produced until December last year — a delay which led, in part, to former HRC executive officer David Wilson being asked to resign last summer.

The commission now has a new executive officer, former journalist and Government press officer Ayo Johnson, and a new chairman, lawyer Venous Memari. The 2006 annual report reveals that 21 formal complaints were made and, of those, ten were investigated. The number is a huge drop from 2003, when 86 complaints were investigated.

Four of the ten cases in 2006 were successfully mediated, four were closed or dismissed (including two unsuccessful mediations) and two are ongoing.

Four of the complaints were related to race, ethnicity or origin; two to sexual harassment; two to family status; one to disability and one to a criminal record.

The Commission referred 379 complaints to other Government agencies and 86 to non or quasi-government agencies. Mr. Perinchief told MPs the HRC had two mandates: to educate the public on human rights protections available to them and human rights in general and to conciliate, investigate and settle allegations of unlawful discrimination.

He said a voluntary mediation programme introduced in 2005 was continuing to be a successful, confidential and cost-effective method of resolving disputes. “The Human Rights Commission is a necessary and valuable part of a civil society,” he said. “The efforts of the commissioners in reviewing human rights cases and promoting and educating on protections and services go a long way towards resolving complaints and ensuring the protection of all our human rights in a participatory and meaningful way.”