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On Wednesday, the Russian State Duma passed a law withdrawing from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, thus officially ending an international human rights treaty that had already ceased to apply in the country.
The withdrawal was proposed earlier this month by President Vladimir Putin, marking another symbolic step by Moscow away from international norms. Although Russia has been a party to the convention since 1997, civil rights activists complain that torture and degrading treatment are widespread in police stations and detention centers in Russia.
Formally, the convention allowed international observers access to Russian prisons, but this effectively ended after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia claims that the Council of Europe has blocked its participation in the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and that for this reason Moscow is unable to fully participate in the work of this monitoring mechanism.
Russia joined the Council of Europe in February 1996, but the organization suspended it in February 2022, just weeks after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine. At the same time as the suspension, Moscow announced its withdrawal from the organization.
The 1987 European Convention for the Prevention of Torture is a Council of Europe agreement that stipulates that, despite Russia’s suspension, the country remains “a party to the relevant Council of Europe conventions.” Ukrainian prisoners of war who were released in the exchange also reported torture in Russia.
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