70 ... ... ... ... .. REVIEW OF LAWS, IMPLEMENTATION OF TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS Review of Laws, Implementation of Treaties and Other International Instruments on Human Rights CHAPTER 5 A] Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) 5.1 The views of the Commission in regard to the Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2000 and the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, 2001 have been indicated in full in earlier annual reports of the Commission. They will not therefore be repeated here. Most recently, the stand of the Commission in respect of antiterrorism legislation was reiterated in a signed statement of 21 February 2003, the full text of which has been reproduced in paragraph 4.15 of the present report. 5.2 In that statement, the Commission inter alia noted that the Prevention of Terrorism (Second) Ordinance, 2001 had been enacted into a law on 26 March 2002, following a Joint Session of Parliament. The Commission therefore took the position that "it respects the constitutional process leading to the adoption of this Act, even though it had made known its opposition to the contents of the Act before it was enacted." The Commission emphasized that it "retains its responsibility under its own Statute to ensure that the Act is not implemented in a manner violative of human rights, the Constitution and the treaty obligations of the country." Further, while noting that, "when compared with TADA," the Prevention of Terrorism Act "does contain some provisions aimed at providing safeguards against its possible misuse," the Commission stated that it was "of the view that these safeguards are insufficient." The Commission therefore asserted that it "remains the duty of the Commission to monitor implementation of the Act with vigilance and to ensure that the provisions of the Act are not abused or human rights violated." N AT I O N A L H U M A N R I G H T S C O M M I S S I O N