Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law denouncing the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman Treatment. The document was published on the official legal information portal of the Russian Federation.
Two additional protocols to the Convention have also been denounced.
The bill, prepared by the Russian government, was submitted to the State Duma by Putin, it became known on 8 September. Already on 17 September, the Duma approved the document.
The explanatory note to the bill stated that since 2023 Russia has no representative in the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. This is due to the fact that the Council of Europe, from which Russia was excluded in 2022, blocked the process of electing a new member of the committee from the Russian Federation.
The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture was developed by the Council of Europe in 1987. Russia ratified it in 1996, when it became a member of the Council. The document not only prohibits torture, but also introduces a mechanism to prevent torture. Since then, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture has regularly visited Russian colonies and pre-trial detention centres, documenting torture and cruel conditions.
Experts of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture can visit prisons, colonies, hospitals and any place of deprivation of liberty without warning. They record conditions, talk to prisoners and staff and then publish reports. Signatory countries are obliged to co-operate and remedy violations.
After denunciation, Russia is no longer obliged to allow international inspectors. Prisoners’ complaints to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture will not be considered. Independent external control disappears, leaving only the supervision of the Russian Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments and Russian courts.
Representatives of the Russian authorities say that withdrawal from the Convention does not mean legalisation of torture in Russia.
Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation Andrei Klishas said that Russia remains a party to other international documents prohibiting torture.