Preventive human rights monitoring

The Austrian Ombudsman Board has been responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Republic of Austria since 1 July 2012.

Together with a federal commission and six regional commissions, it monitors facilities in which personal freedom is or may be deprived or restricted, for example in prisons or care homes. The monitoring also extends to facilities and programmes for people with disabilities. In addition, the administration is monitored as an executive authority when direct command and coercive power is exercised, for example during deportations, demonstrations and police operations. Essentially, it is about recognising and eliminating risk factors for human rights violations at an early stage.

Figuratively speaking, the Austrian Ombudsman Board is the human rights centre of the Republic.

In addition to preventive monitoring, anyone can lodge an explicit complaint with the Ombudsman Board about an alleged violation of human rights.

The constitutional mandate to protect human rights as a "National Preventive Mechanism" (NPM) is based on two important legal acts of the United Nations. One is the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) and the other is the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.