Russia withdrew from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture

The Russian State Duma denounced the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as two protocols thereto.

This was reported by Russian state media.

The bill on denunciation of the convention was submitted to parliament by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. The explanatory note to it stated that the decision to withdraw from the convention was due to the fact that "the Council of Europe is blocking the election of a new member from the Russian Federation to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture," and from December 2023, Moscow will not be able to fully participate in the work of this monitoring mechanism.

The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture was adopted by the Council of Europe in 1987. Russia ratified it in 1996, when it became a member of the Council.

After withdrawing from the convention, Russia will no longer be obliged to allow international inspectors into its prisons, and Russian prisoners will not be able to file complaints with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

• After the invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe, of which it had been a member for 26 years. Since then, the country has remained a party to the Convention against Torture only formally.
• Russia has not taken any real part in the work of the ECtHR and has not allowed the Committeeʼs experts to enter its territory to study and document the situation with torture.
• Also, an independent international commission to investigate violations in Ukraine stated that the Russian authorities are committing torture, which qualifies as crimes against humanity.
• Since February 2022, Ukraine has systematically insisted on the exclusion of Russia from all cooperation mechanisms within the Council of Europe.

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