HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler says he is “very worried” about the island’s under-fire Human Rights Commission (HRC) after it emerged that its chairman has resigned and its lead civil servant is still involved in disciplinary proceedings.
Rod Attride-Stirling stepped down as chairman of the commission last month although he did not announce his decision publicly.
Deputy chairman Maryanne Scott has stepped in as acting chairman until the end of the year but told reporters she was not sure if she wanted the chairman’s role, the Royale Gazette reported Thursday.
She revealed that two other commissioners – Matthew Clifford and Kamal Worrell – are also leaving the HRC, which has come in for heavy criticism recently over controversial decisions about complaints regarding government politicians and its failure to produce annual reports for the last four years.
Clifford is leaving the island and Worrell is returning to a job in education.
A disciplinary hearing involving its executive officer David Wilson – believed to have been held partly in connection with the lack of annual reports – took place in May and June, but the outcome is still not known.
Butler, the minister responsible for the HRC, said Attride Stirling resigned solely because the position took up so much of his time and he needed to concentrate on his Hamilton law firm, the newspaper reported.
He added: “He was disappointed that he could not give the government the reports according to legislation but it had nothing to do with his resignation. He was personally disappointed that he was unable to get those reports.”
Asked if he was concerned about the commission’s current performance, Butler said: “I’m very worried. The public needs to be well served. I think that we are doing the best job we can with what we have.”
Premier Alex Scott and Housing Minister David Burch have both been the subject of complaints to the HRC this year.
Veteran entertainer Tony Brannon complained over a stray e-mail he received from Scott that he claimed was racist. The e-mail, intended for his director of information, said in part: “I am getting tired of listening to, and taking crap from people who look and sound like Brannon (who is white).”
The complaint against Burch was over comments he made on his radio show. The HRC threw out both complaints.