Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets: Russia’s Withdrawal from the Convention against Torture Confirms that Torture is Part of the Kremlin’s State Policy

Russia’s withdrawal from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture is a step that confirms that torture is part of the Kremlin’s state policy.

This decision is not just a formality in legal terms, but a demonstrative step that removes the last ‘masks’ and confirms that torture is part of the Kremlin’s state policy.

The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture not only prohibits cruel and inhuman treatment, but also provides for control mechanisms. To this end, the Council of Europe has a European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which has the right to monitor places of detention.

Despite the fact that Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March 2022, it formally remained a party to the convention, which provided legal grounds for international pressure. Now this opportunity has been lost.

Denunciation means that the Kremlin is deliberately avoiding international control and depriving the world of leverage to respond to the facts of torture in prisons in the Russian Federation and in temporarily occupied territories.

In response, the world must use the instruments that remain in force. Russia continues to be a party to the UN Convention against Torture, so it is necessary to intensify the work of UN mechanisms, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross.