Russia officially withdraws from European Convention for Prevention of Torture

The Russian Federation has denounced the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The corresponding law, signed by Vladimir Putin, has been posted on the Russian Legal Information Portal.

In addition, Protocols No. 1 and No. 2 to this convention, signed on behalf of the Russian Federation on February 28, 1996 in Strasbourg and ratified on March 28, 1998, were also denounced.

The explanatory note to the denunciation law explains this by the fact that the Russian Federation has not been represented on the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment since December 2023 and allegedly does not have the opportunity to fully and effectively participate in its work.

The Russian government previously adopted a resolution proposing that Putin denounce the convention.

The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council noted that Russia is not making much of an effort to justify this move and is using it as a propaganda ploy to intimidate its own population with the possibility of punishment for disloyalty.

"Although Russia has long failed to comply with its obligations under the Convention against Torture and routinely tortures Ukrainian prisoners, the Russian Federation has now lifted even the formal ban on inhumane treatment of prisoners. This means that the scale of torture in Russia will only increase," the Center reported on its Telegram channel.