From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 1, May 2002.

Tonga’s Human Rights record for 2001 was generally poor, according to the USA Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour.

The Bureau prepared the country reports for the USA Department of State, which distributed the Tonga report through its Pacific Newsline on March 5.

According to the report, the three main offenders were the Tongan Government, the Police, and the Judiciary. The reasons given were, the government, because it does not give the people their political right to choose their leaders and to change their system of government; the police, for beating up prisoners and forcing them to make confessions, and getting away with it; and the judiciary, where it can be a lengthy process to get a case heard in court.

Checklist

The report formed a check list, where under each section comments were made about the status of behaviour in Tonga and this was measured against what the USA considered to be within its mainland human rights standards.

For the sake of understanding how Tonga received a “poor” Human rights record, Matangi Tonga has added a “pass” or “fail” after each point, with brackets containing the report’s own brief explanation of how such a conclusion was reached.

Tonga’s result came to 11 passes and 11 fails, as follows:

Section 1 – Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:

a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life - Pass.
b. Disappearance - Pass.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - Fail (A prisoner was awarded $14,000 after being beaten by a police officer. The policeman was presumed to have not been punished).
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile - Pass.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial - Fail (A Human Rights activist was to appear in court as witness to a theft. He wrote a letter to a newspaper criticising the Ministry of Police and subsequently he was charged with abetting theft).

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press - Fail (a Human Rights Activist was to appear in court as a witness to a theft. He wrote a letter to a newspaper criticising the Ministry of Police and subsequently he was charged with abetting theft).
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association - Pass
c. Freedom of Religion - Fail (The Tonga Broadcasting Commission does not allow members of the Baha’i faith to discuss the tenets of their religion, or to refer to the founder Baha’ullah, by name. Similarly TBC  does not allow the Mormon Church to discuss its founder, Joseph Smith, or the Book of Mormon by name.)
d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation - Fail (A Human Rights activist was prevented from travelling  abroad by the repeated postponement  of the court case in which he was involved).

Section 3 - Respect for Political Rights:

The right of Citizens to change their Government - Fail (Citizens do not have the ability to change their leaders or the system of government.)

Section 4 – Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Non-governmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human rights - Pass.

Section 5 – Discrimination based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status.

Social Status - Fail (Members of the hereditary nobility have substantial advantages, including control over most land and a generally privileged status).
Women – Fail (Carnal intercourse by a man and his wife shall not under any circumstance be deemed rape).
Children – Pass (Education is compulsory from ages 6 to 14).
Person with Disabilities - Pass.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities - Fail (Later in 2000, the hereditary noble of a district in the western part of Tongatapu announced that Chinese-owned stores were banned from his district)..

Section 6 - Worker Rights

a. The Right of Association – Fail (The 1963 Act provides workers with the right to strike; however, implementing regulations never have been formulated.)
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively – Fail (Since no unions have been formed, collective bargaining is not practiced).
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labour – Pass
d. Status of Child Labour Practices and Minimum Age for Employment – Pass
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work – Pass
f. Trafficking in Persons – Pass