Russia withdrew from the Council of Europe Convention against Torture

On November 1, Russia officially withdrew from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Moscow had acceded to the convention back in 1998.

The Council of Europe reported that following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture received numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment of people in places of detention in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

At the same time, Russian authorities refused to cooperate with the committee, preventing independent experts from verifying these reports.

Committee President Alan Mitchell stated that Russia’s withdrawal means the end of the organization’s mandate to monitor places of detention on Russian territory. Consequently, the country will no longer have independent international monitoring of such facilities under this mechanism.

Source: Council of Europe

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