Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has submitted a bill to the State Duma to denounce the European Convention against Torture. If the document is adopted, Russia will no longer be obliged to allow international inspectors into its prisons or to consider complaints from prisoners to the European Committee.
This was reported by Ukrinform.
Complaints from Russian prisoners to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture will also no longer be considered.
The explanatory note to the bill states that Russia will not have a representative on the European Committee from 2023. This is because the Council of Europe has blocked the process of electing a new member from Russia. The document states that appeals for the renewal of Russian representation have remained unanswered, despite the principle of cooperation enshrined in the European Convention. The Russian side considers this approach to be discriminatory.
The members of the convention are the member states of the Council of Europe. Russia withdrew from this organization in 2022 after 26 years of membership.
The document, signed by Russia on February 28, 1996, and ratified on March 28, 1998, prohibits torture and obliges member states to prevent it. To this end, an independent international body has been established — the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), which has the right to conduct inspections in places of detention, identify violations, and make recommendations for improving conditions of detention. The countries that are part of the Convention have to work with the committee and give it full access to any places where people are being held.