Introduction Introduction This report documents the activities of the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) and its six commissions in 2017. A total of 495 inspections were conducted in the year under review, of which most took place in public and private institutions and facilities where persons are deprived of their liberty. The human rights of persons staying in such facilities are at a great risk of being violated, as they are living in a specifically dependent relationship and cannot be sufficiently heard. The purpose of the visits conducted by the commissions of the Austrian National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) is to protect persons from abuse and degrading treatment. The observations made during these visits emphasise the importance of preventive human rights protection. They are addressed in detail on over 160 pages in this report. Not all of the findings of the monitoring activities were included, as this would go far beyond the scope of an annual report. On the one hand, the selection for this report put a focus on those human rights risk areas that were observed most frequently and are thus considered attributable to structural deficits. On the other hand, cases are reported in which human rights were violated. Possible reasons and the reactions of the responsible authorities are also covered. These statements demonstrate that the work of the NPM is not limited to monitoring and control. Every visit, every monitoring of a police operation entails extensive correspondence, often over a long period of time, and meetings with the affected facilities and the competent supervisory authorities. Detailed reports on the results of the visits Concrete recommendations derived from the findings show how the situation can be improved and which reforms are necessary. All of the recommendations formulated by the NPM since taking up its work are listed in the last chapter of this report. This list is continued and updated on a yearly basis. A compendium of human rights standards to be complied with should thus materialise over time. Many recommendations by the NPM The systematic, continued development of the work of the NPM is guaranteed not least through international cooperation. It has been possible to not only establish but also expand the exchange of information between experts on an international level in recent years. Membership in networks,such as the South-East Europe NPM Network, as well as regular meetings with other NPMs ensure that experience and expertise on international human rights standards and monitoring are shared. The objective here is also to agree on a uniform approach and the interpretation of the OPCAT. Exchanging experiences through international cooperation This report provides a concentrated summary of the entire work of the NPM before the detailed reports. It contains the most important information on the content and scope of the preventive mandate, and describes the organisational framework and the available resources. Statistics on the monitoring work are 11