Official cessation of participation in the treaty
On 1 November, the Russian Federation officially ceased its participation in the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Council of Europe announced this.
International experts no longer have the authority to conduct monitoring visits to Russian prisons and pre-trial detention centres under this international document.
History of cooperation and reasons for withdrawal
Russia was a party to the convention from 1998. The document provided for independent oversight of the rights of persons deprived of liberty, including the possibility of visiting prisons, pre-trial detention centres, and other places of detention.
The Council of Europe noted that following the start of the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture received numerous reports of probable torture and ill-treatment of prisoners in both Russia and the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
However, Russian authorities refused to cooperate with the committee. As a result, international experts were unable to independently verify the received testimony and establish the circumstances of the probable violations.
Position of the committee leadership
Committee President Alan Mitchell stated:
«Вихід Російської Федерації знаменує собою кінець мандату комітету на моніторинг у країні. Це також означає припинення будь-якого незалежного моніторингу місць позбавлення волі в Російській Федерації» (The withdrawal of the Russian Federation marks the end of the committee's mandate for monitoring in the country. It also means the cessation of any independent monitoring of places of detention in the Russian Federation).
Legal consequences
Cessation of participation in the convention deprives European experts of the legal basis for inspecting Russian detention facilities. At the same time, this does not cancel Russia's international legal obligations regarding the prohibition of torture, which arise from other treaties.
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