The Estonian Human Rights Centre (EHRC) is participating in an international project addressing the complex tension between ensuring safety and protecting fundamental rights in psychiatric hospitals and other closed institutions. Drawing on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the project strengthens the capacity of relevant stakeholders to apply the Charter in practice.
The use of surveillance cameras in closed institutions is increasingly widespread as a means of preventing self-harm, violence, or sudden deterioration in a person’s condition. However, their use raises serious concerns from the perspective of human dignity, privacy, data protection, and the prohibition of discrimination.
“The use of surveillance cameras in psychiatric hospitals and other closed institutions touches simultaneously on people’s safety and their most fundamental rights. Until now, the issue has been approached primarily from a safety perspective, with far less discussion of how to ensure human dignity, privacy, and data protection at the same time. The activities of this project will help address that gap,” explains Egert Rünne, Director of EHRC, on the project’s significance from a human rights perspective.
The project “Balancing Safety and Privacy: Safeguarding Fundamental Rights in Psychiatric Care” is grounded in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and strengthens the capacity of civil society, healthcare professionals, and oversight bodies to apply the Charter in practice. By combining comparative legal analysis, lived-experience evidence, and the co-creation of guidance materials, the project promotes awareness, accountability, and cross-border exchange of experience.
The project runs for 24 months and activities are taking place across all five partner countries: Czechia, Estonia, Slovakia, Latvia, and Italy.
The project is co-funded by the European Union.
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