Summary Psychiatric institutions are places of deprivation of liberty, as defined in Article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT), an international treaty adopted in 2002 that aims to prevent torture by establishing a system of regular visits to places of detention. These establishments therefore form an integral part of the mandate of the detention monitoring bodies created under the OPCAT: the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), an international body, and the National Preventive Mechanisms (NPM), national institutions that the States must establish when they ratify the treaty. On 6 and 7 September 2016, the APT gathered in Geneva NPM representatives and international experts to explore the risk factors and situations that might contribute to abuse committed against persons deprived of liberty in psychiatric institutions, as well as the means of preventing these abuses. Over the two days, the participants tackled the following issues: international standards on the deprivation of liberty of persons with mental disabilities, involuntary treatment, seclusion and restraints (physical or chemical), the respect for dignity and the right to privacy, the risks of overmedication and the broader issue of deinstitutionalisation. Deprivation of liberty in psychiatric institutions. In most countries, a person may be forced into a psychiatric institution, particularly if she/he is perceived to present a risk to her/his safety or that of others. The international standards governing this matter vary considerably and present a considerable challenge when developing national public policies. Several international human rights bodies (including the UN Human Rights Committee, UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture) accept, as a measure of last resort, the involuntary placement of persons with mental disabilities, subject to the implementation of legal safeguards that prevent arbitrary detention and include review procedures in cases of abuse. Article 14 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 5