Family rights group ChildWatch has been asked to submit its opinions on fathers' rights in Bermuda by consultants working for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Dr. Dessima Williams and Geraldine Terry, who visited the Island in May to prepare a report on human rights, have asked the organisation to submit its opinions and complaints on situations that arise on the Island.

ChildWatch, which was launched two years ago to protect the rights of children and both parents when families have broken up, has frequently complained that the courts and legal system in Bermuda were biased against fathers.

Coordinator Eddie Fisher said the group was delighted to have been invited to officially convey some of its concerns on human rights for the report.

He said: "We have enlisted the support of a lawyer to help us and we are making our submissions on human rights, and where we feel great improvements need to be made in relation to child care and custody.

"We are getting information from other countries as to how they deal with issues of child custody and parental responsibilities, and we will be including it in our report.

"I think Bermuda needs to step up and make some forward-thinking changes when it comes to these issues, like other countries are doing."

Mr. Fisher said members of the ChildWatch group attended a public meeting in May held by Dr. Williams and Ms Terry to discuss Bermuda's Human Rights policy, and where it could be lacking.

He added: "We told them at that meeting how disgusting it was to have fathers who were unable to spend time with their children. I think they were quite interested in what we had to say.

"We are very pleased to at least be able to get our point of view across."

The women were visiting Bermuda in May, along with other UK Overseas Territories, on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to raise the issue of human rights.

While on the Island, they praised Bermuda's Human Rights Commission and the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE), and said both bodies were good examples of human rights practise.

However, they said they believed too many people in Bermuda were fearful of speaking out on issues, and said the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women did not apply on the Island, which concerned them.

The Royal Gazette reported earlier this month how ChildWatch is set to lobby Government in the coming weeks in a bid to get the issue of child custody and care taken out of the courts and placed into the hands of a panel of mediators, instead.

The group believes that would prevent bias from entering the arena and would make more estranged parents work together on raising their children.

And the organisation also believes that recent proposed amendments to the Children's Act do not go far enough in redressing the balance between mothers and fathers.