Russia has officially withdrawn from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, and the withdrawal has now taken effect. Moscow announced last year that it wished to leave the convention, and that process is now complete.
According to the Council of Europe, Russia's withdrawal has ended all independent oversight of Russian prisons. This means that the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, established under the convention, can no longer inspect how prisoners are treated in Russia. Russia had been a signatory to the convention since the late 1990s, and the committee visited 450 places of detention during 30 trips between 1998 and 2021.
The committee notes that Russia was the only country that almost never allowed the subsequent publication of reports on visits. According to committee data, reports were published for only four visits. Following the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, the committee was no longer permitted to make any visits. The committee also stated that it had received several reports of torture and ill-treatment in Russia and in areas of Ukraine under Russian occupation.
Human rights activists have frequently warned that torture and degrading treatment are widespread in Russian police stations and detention facilities. Almost all Ukrainian prisoners of war who have been released in exchanges have reported torture in Russia.
The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, from the late 1980s, is part of the treaty framework of the Council of Europe, the largest intergovernmental human rights organisation in Europe. Due to the war in Ukraine, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in 2022. Moscow justified its withdrawal from the convention by claiming it could no longer participate in the work of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
