The right to liberty and security

Everyone has the right to liberty and security and - according to the international human rights mechanisms - this right can be violated in a variety of ways, including:

• unlawful or arbitrary detention (where there is no legal basis for the deprivation of liberty), for example when a person is kept in detention after the completion of their prison sentence or despite an amnesty law which applies to them;

• detention of persons because they have exercised the rights and freedoms guaranteed by international instruments, including the ones described in this manual;

• detention after a trial which did not comply with international standards for a fair trial (see the right to a fair trial).

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International human rights mechanisms which protect the right to liberty and security

The right to liberty and security is protected by the following international human rights mechanisms (click on the links to find out more about how to use these mechanisms):

United Nations Human Rights Committee

Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders

Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women

1503 Procedure

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

African Commission on Human and People's Rights

European Court of Human Rights