Russia plans to formally withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Politico reports.
A decree signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on the 23rd of August and published on the 25th of August states that Russian President Vladimir Putin will submit a proposal to withdraw from the treaty to the lower house of parliament. A specific date for the withdrawal has not yet been set.
Russia’s withdrawal is largely symbolic, given the dramatic human rights situation in the country, which worsened further after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin uses torture to maintain control and suppress any opposition.
Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe,
the main human rights organization in Europe, three years ago, a month after the war began.
The Kremlin has repeatedly used torture to crack down on opponents of the regime, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison. Ukrainian prisoners of war are also tortured.
The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted in 1987 and is one of the council’s key treaties. It allows members of the Committee against Torture to inspect places of detention, paying particular attention to prison conditions – the density of prisoners and the conditions in which prisoners live.
Read also: Lithuania wants to bypass Hungary and start talks on Ukraine’s EU accession