A/HRC/8/48 Page 9 adopt to promote freedom of expression and freedom of press. France noted and encouraged Tonga’s intention to establish a national human rights institution, and asked on a timetable in that regard. It recommended that Tonga adopt measures to strengthen the protection of freedom of expression, information and the press. It also recommended to Tonga to establish a national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles. 33. The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations indicated that regarding human rights education, as mentioned in the national report, human rights have been incorporated into social studies and in the studies syllabus. Currently the curricula for primary and secondary schools are being reviewed with the support of New Zealand and the World Bank, and she reiterated that the Ministry of Education is committed to incorporating human rights issues in the curricula. As regards training of public officers, she noted the public awareness programmes on legal rights of women run by the Crown Law Department and other training programmes for NGOs with the support of the Government and donor partners. She also noted the value of national reconciliation and civic education programmes financed by the Government. Regarding the establishment of a national human rights institutions or a regional institution, human rights are dealt with in the Pacific Plan under the governance pillar, and the practicalities of setting up such a regional institution are currently being explored with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Forum Secretariat. With regard to training of defence and police personnel, she noted that Tonga defence services have contributed to peacekeeping and peace building operations, which has required specific pre-deployment training on the specific field of human rights for post-conflict States. These trainings have led to professional civics and human rights training. Police trainers also attended the Commonwealth Secretariat Human Rights Training Course in March 2007, with the assistance of New Zealand and Australia, and she confirmed that these trainings and the commitment to the professionalism of the police will remain a priority of the Government. 34. With regard to the question on a code of conduct for media, the certificate and diploma in media and journalism, as mentioned in the national report, is a product of the commitment of the media industry and the vocational sector to provide affordable access to quality training and professional development. Tonga noted that it sees value in the Media Council developing a national code of conduct and would seek technical and financial assistance for this. On the issue of setting up the Anti-Corruption Commission, its enabling legislation was enacted in September 2007 and the law provides for the appointment of a commissioner and nine deputies, with a wide mandate to independently investigate and prosecute corruption, and the appointments are being finalized. This may strengthen the development of a leadership code aimed at establishing standards of conduct for all leaders in the public arena, both executive and legislative, with the possibility of bringing allegations of breaches to the code either to the Commission or the courts, as the circumstances require. On the issue of the death penalty, the representative of Tonga stated that it remains a part of the ultimate sanctions of criminal law, and that it was last imposed in 1982. She noted that as part of the process of the ratification of ICCPR, Tonga may consider the adoption of the Second Optional Protocol. In relation to the question on media and to the recommendations to enable freedom of expression, she indicated that the legislation referred to in 2003 was challenged and the Court made a ruling on the issue, to which the Government has abided. Regarding assistance provided to date by OHCHR, the UPR process was Tonga’s first engagement with OHCHR. Accordingly, the national report makes specific requests for technical and financial assistance from the Human Rights Council. With regard to the question on equitable distribution of the benefits of development between the rich and the poor, Tonga has been involved in national development planning for over three decades and is currently in its eighth strategic planning period. She noted that Tonga has engaged in implementing pro-poor policies in line with its national commitments and in line with regional and international commitments such as the Millennium Development Goals. The Integrated Regional Development Programmes for each of the island