The Russian government has proposed denouncing the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
According to Ukrinform, this was reported by The Moscow Times.
A resolution to submit the relevant proposal to the State Duma for presidential approval was signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The document states that Russia will withdraw from the Convention and its additional protocols.
The document, signed by Russia on February 28, 1996, and ratified on March 28, 1998, not only prohibits torture but also obliges states to prevent it. For this purpose, an independent international body, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), was established, with the authority to conduct inspections in places of detention to identify violations and provide recommendations for improving detention conditions. The parties to the Convention are obliged to cooperate with the Committee and provide it with unrestricted access to any places of detention.
On March 16, 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine, 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.
The CPT reported that Russian authorities did not respond to requests for cooperation—this concerned not only monitoring visits to places of detention but also providing information on alarming cases, such as the death of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in the high-security colony Polar Wolf in February 2024.
Earlier, Russia withdrew from the European Convention on Human Rights. Moreover, Russia does not comply with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued after March 15, 2022.
In February 2023, the country terminated the application of the Statute of the Council of Europe, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Social Charter, and 18 other documents. In August 2024, the same fate befell the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
As reported by Ukrinform, earlier, the international human rights organization Amnesty International presented a report on incommunicado detention and torture of Ukrainian prisoners by Russia.
The Wall Street Journal also published material stating that after the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, employees of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) received instructions allowing the use of unrestricted violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Source: Russia plans to withdraw from European Convention for Prevention of Torture
