The article provides an overview of the origins and practical work on national and international control mechanisms, initiated by the United Nations, for the observance of human rights in psychiatry in Germany and worldwide. Historical, legal and psychiatric developments will be presented ranging from Pinel 200 years ago to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the United Nations Convention against Torture (CAT). The National Agency for the Prevention of Torture and Ill-treatment in Germany will be presented, which has visited about forty psychiatric institutions since its establishment and has reported its observations to the public. This is followed by impressions of visits by the Subcommittee on the Convention against Torture, the SPT, in different states in which the first author participated. As the diction of national and international reports may be tacitly influenced by western ideas, a discourse about dementia in the Islamic cultural area follows. The aim of the article is to provide an incentive to discuss bioethical issues taking into account multiple perspectives. The importance of civil society organizations for the future development of an interdisciplinary and intercultural exchange will be elaborated.