The British government must act immediately to restore confidence in the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Sinn Féin leader Mr Gerry Adams insisted tonight.
Mr Adams warned the organisation's ability to protect human rights was in serious doubt following chief commissioner Professor Brice Dickson's admission that he mishandled a case linked to the Holy Cross School dispute.
The west Belfast MP also expressed concerns about the recent resignations of three commissioners and insisted legislation should be amended to place a duty on the commission to act with independence.
The controversy broke out after the Human Rights Commission agreed to fund a legal case which alleged police violated the human rights of Catholic schoolchildren and parents in their handling of loyalist protests at the north Belfast Primary School in September 2001.
Despite the commission backing the case, Prof Dickson has admitted he wrote a letter to former chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan in which he said he did not believe police had breached any human rights.
Outraged solicitors for an unnamed Holy Cross parent who mounted the judicial review action claimed this was a breach of trust.
Prof Dickson responded yesterday by insisting his reservations about the merits of the case were shared by three other commissioners.
But he admitted: "Looking back on the matter a year and a half later, I might have dealt with those divisions differently."
A Joint Commons and Lords Committee on Human Rights report issued last week said the commission's handling of the Holy Cross case raised questions about its independence.
But Mr Dickson stressed the correspondence had not influenced the commission's support for the Holy Cross case or its ultimate outcome.
Mr Adams today claimed Prof Dickson's explanations were "unconvincing and unsatisfactory".
"The highly disturbing revelations around the actions of the Chief Commissioner Brice Dickson and several other commissioners, regarding the blockade of children attending Holy Cross Primary School and the policing of that situation by the PSNI, have further dented political and public confidence in the commission's ability to uphold and protect human rights," he said.
Mr Adams said it was important to immediately implement the joint committee's recommendation that legislation be amended to place a duty on the commission to act with independence and impartiality. "This is crucial in order to repair the damage to the commission and to make it an effective guardian of human rights," he said.