ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the right to liberty and security, particularly as applied to people with psychosocial, intellectual, cognitive, or developmental disabilities. It explores rights that have been included in prior human rights treaties since the beginning of international human rights jurisprudence. The chapter discusses an overview of the history of the treatment of people with mental disabilities, focusing on the systematic deprivation of their rights in most countries of the world. Specifically, this discussion on the deprivation of rights that has resulted from the enactment of laws authorizing involuntary treatment and confinement in institutions, with conditions that may give rise to claims of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The chapter focuses on the right to liberty and security therefore raises the ongoing question of whether and to what extent the CRPD may be interpreted to restrict laws, policies, and practices that condone the use of involuntary treatment and institutionalization.
