Russia withdraws from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture

Russia has formally withdrawn from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, a move that the Council of Europe says ends independent monitoring of conditions inside Russian prisons.

The withdrawal means the Committee for the Prevention of Torture can no longer carry out inspections or checks into how detainees and prisoners are treated on Russian territory.

Background and monitoring record

Moscow announced last year that it intended to leave the convention, and that decision has now taken effect. Russia had been a party to the convention since the late 1990s.

Human rights groups have repeatedly reported that torture and degrading treatment are widespread in Russian police stations and detention centres. Nearly all Ukrainian prisoners of war who were released in exchanges have also reported being subjected to torture while in Russian custody.

Between 1998 and 2021 the Committee for the Prevention of Torture carried out 30 visits and controls, inspecting some 450 places of detention, and noted that Russia was the only country that almost never allowed publication of visit reports; the Committee managed to publish only four reports of its visits.

After the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the Committee said it was no longer being permitted to undertake any visits. The body also said it had repeatedly received reports of torture and ill-treatment both in Russia and in the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces.

The convention, which dates from the late 1980s, forms part of the Council of Europe's treaty framework. Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.

Photo: press material from the event