A/HRC/8/48
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police lock-up and prison facilities in accordance with international standards, and enquired about
the status of this urgent appeal. It recommended that Tonga continue to proceed with the work of
reviewing and making necessary adjustments to relevant domestic laws and regulations to enable
the prompt ratification of CEDAW, and also recommended that Tonga submit its initial report to
the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
55.
Senegal welcomed the open-mindedness with which Tonga’s report was drafted and called
on the international community to study ways and means to meet the capacity-building and
technical assistance needs of the country in the field of human rights, as well on OHCHR to without
delay consider establishing a framework for cooperation with Tonga. It also encouraged the
Government to examine the possibility of acceding to the main international human rights
instruments.
56.
Tunisia noted that the Constitution expresses the aspirations of the people for freedom,
independence and development and welcomed the significant progress made by Tonga, citing the
UNDP report ranked it 55th in the human development index, with a life expectancy of 72.2 years
and a record level of literacy of 98 per cent. It supported Tonga’s request concerning capacity
strengthening and technical assistance.
57.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland indicated that it was impressed
by the high level of consultations with civil society in the preparation for the UPR review. It
welcomed the positive steps taken by Tonga over the years, demonstrating its commitment to
human rights. It echoed the calls made in the reports provided as basis for the review of Tonga to
take urgent steps to advance the legal position of women. It sought further information on how
Tonga planned to address rules that discriminate against women and recommended that Tonga
ratify CEDAW. It noted that Tonga has not yet responded to the urgent appeal sent by the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders in respect to the
events of November 2006, and that some of the security forces involved in policing the troubles of
2006 ill-treated those arrested for participating in the riots. It urged the Government of Tonga to
respond to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General about these issues and enquired
about steps taken to restore faith in the police among citizens. It strongly encouraged Tonga to meet
its reporting obligations under the CRC and ICERD, albeit recognizing the burden that reporting
can place on small countries, and asked the delegation whether there is any further technical
assistance Tonga would need to better meet its international commitments. It recommended that
Tonga continue cooperating with civil society in the implementation of the outcome process.
58.
Bangladesh noted that a UNDP report presented an encouraging picture of Tonga’s
education, free health care services and gender parity in accessing education, health care and
employment opportunities, and provision of safe drinking water. It noted that women’s right to
land needed improvement and noted the request for technical assistance and financial support from
Tonga to improve education services, redraft the Constitution and develop activities to promote
human rights. It recommended to (a) Tonga to continue to request technical assistance and
financial support to improve education services, to redraft the Kingdom's Constitution and its
activities in the promotion of human rights. It indicated that the purpose of UPR was not to impose
the values of one society on another and noted that if the traditional society of Tonga does not
permit consensual sex between two men or two women, one should refrain from imposing this on
them, as it is outside the purview of universally accepted human rights norms. As there is no treaty
obliging Tonga to do otherwise, it (b) recommended that the Government continue to criminalize
consensual same sex, which is outside the purview of universally accepted human rights norms,
according to Tonga’s national legislation.
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