Russia Officially Leaves European Anti-Torture Convention
Russia's withdrawal from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture took effect on 1 November. It ends independent international monitoring of detention facilities in the country.
Russia is no longer a party to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture as of 1 November, the Council of Europe, the continent's human rights organisation, said on Sunday. The step ends independent international monitoring of places of detention in Russia, and rights groups say it removes the last remaining international safeguard for inmates in the Russian penal system.
The withdrawal took effect one year after Moscow formally notified the Council of Europe of its decision, as the convention's rules require. Russia ratified the treaty in 1998, two years after joining the organisation, and was expelled from it in March 2022 after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
What the inspectors did
According to the Council of Europe, the convention's inspectors made 30 visits to more than 450 detention facilities in Russia over 23 years. Russia allowed only four of the resulting reports to be published. The unpublished ones concern 10 visits to Chechnya and other North Caucasus regions between 2000 and 2017. The Council of Europe noted that Russia may authorise their publication at any time.
Allegations of torture
The Council of Europe said the convention's committee received numerous accounts of alleged torture and ill-treatment in detention centres and penal colonies, both in Russian-occupied Ukraine and inside Russia. Because Russian authorities did not cooperate, the committee was unable to visit the country and assess the situation itself.
Russia also withdrew from the European Convention on Human Rights in 2022, which ended the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights over it. Rights groups credit the anti-torture convention with helping to ease overcrowding, improve conditions in penal colonies and secure better protection for some inmates. Russia remains a party to the UN Convention Against Torture, which it ratified in 1985.
