Annex III: Concept note Monitoring psychiatric institutions 3rd Jean-Jacques Gautier NPM Symposium 6-7 September 2016, Geneva, Switzerland Overview “While the prohibition of torture may have originally applied primarily in the context of interrogation, punishment or intimidation of a detainee, the international community has begun to recognise that torture may also occur in other contexts.” 17 Psychiatric institutions fall within these “other contexts”, where persons are at risk of abuses that can amount to torture or other forms of ill-treatment. The involuntary placement and the specific exposure to abuses in such institutions have received increased attention in the last decade, especially following the adoption of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, which states that “the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty.” (art. 14) 17 Objectives Part 1: NPMs and international experts • Explore the risk factors and situations which contribute to abuse and ill-treatments of persons held in psychiatric institutions and ways to address them. • Examine standards applicable to psychiatric institutions and identify NPM strategies to address challenges related to their implementation. • Enable interaction between NPMs and other key actors to share and identify good practices and reinforce cooperation. See Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez, UN Doc A/ HCR/22/53, 1 February 2013. 53