A/HRC23/4 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, held its fifteenth session from 21 January to 1 February 2013. The review of Tonga was held at the 2nd meeting on 21 January 2013. The delegation of Tonga was headed by Lord Vaea, Minister for Internal Affairs. At its 10th meeting held on 25 January 2013, the Working Group adopted the report on Tonga. 2. On 14 January 2013, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Tonga: Angola, Costa Rica and Pakistan. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of Tonga: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/15/TON/1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/15/TON/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/15/TON/3 and Corr.1). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Norway, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was transmitted to Tonga through the troika. These questions are available on the extranet of the UPR. I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. At the fifteenth session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, held on 21 January 2013, Lord Vaea, Minister for Internal Affairs, introduced Tonga’s second national report after extending warm greetings and best wishes for the New Year 2013 on behalf of His Majesty King Tupou VI of Tonga, Lord Tu’ivakano, Prime Minister of Tonga, and the people of Tonga He congratulated the Council and the Working Group for the work achieved in 2012 and for commencing the second cycle of the UPR process. He thanked the troika, consisting of Angola, Costa Rica and Pakistan, for assisting with Tonga’s review and for the advance questions from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, Mexico and Spain. 6. Lord Vaea referred to the adoption of Tonga’s first universal period review in June 2008 as a milestone for Tonga. It provided the opportunity to showcase the fundamental human rights enshrined in the 1875 Tongan Constitution granted by King Siaosi Tupou I, which Tonga had devotedly protected for 137 years. Lord Vaea also stated that the first review was an opportunity to highlight Tonga’s aspirations to ratify new human rights conventions. 7. However, he stated that the introduction of new human rights would involve a delicate balancing exercise of important factors, including limited resources, core Tongan cultural values, fundamental Christian beliefs and liberal ideologies. These unique circumstances should be recognized as the reason why Tonga has been slow to ratify the 3