introduction Introduction Since 2011, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen (JO) has discharged the duties incumbent on a national preventive mechanism pursuant to the Optional Protocol of 18 December 2002 to the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). To undertake this function, the ombudsmen are supported by a special unit, the OPCAT unit. The unit’s principal task is to conduct inspections on behalf of Parliamentary Ombudsmen in places where people are deprived of their liberty (places of detention). The Parliamentary Ombudsmen is a part of the Swedish system of parliamentary control. The office was established in 1809 in conjunction with a new instrument of government, and its remit is to specifically ensure that the courts and administrative authorities comply with the Instrument of Government’s stipulations concerning objectivity and impartiality and that the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens are not encroached upon in the public sector. The Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s supervision is conducted primarily by processing complaints from members of the public and through inspections. The bulk of their work involves processing complains, but the ombudsmen also conduct 20–30 inspections per year as part of their traditional activities. Inspecting places of detention, such as prisons, has always been an important part of this remit. Sweden ratified OPCAT in 2005, and the Riksdag appointed the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Office of the Chancellor of Justice (JK) as national preventive mechanisms. As of 1 January 2014, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen is the only national preventive mechanism in Sweden. In the first three and a half years of its OPCAT remit, the ombudsmen have inspected 109 places of detention. This report summarises the activities in this period and highlights a number of the ombudsmen’s statements, in which the ombudsmen have highlighted conditions that it should be possible to improve with the aim of strengthening the rights of persons deprived of their liberty and preventing inhuman or other degrading treatment etc. The annual report is divided into five sections. The first section provides some brief information about the term torture and conventions in the area etc. The second section describes the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s OPCAT activities. The third section is a summary of the results of OPCAT activities for the years 2011–2014, and the fourth section is a compilation of Parliamentary Ombudsmen decisions following OPCAT inspections. The report concludes with a compilation of other relevant Parliamentary Ombudsmen decisions concerning the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. 7