The Russian government has proposed that President Vladimir Putin officially withdraw the country from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, a treaty it signed almost thirty years ago.
A decree signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was published Monday on Russia’s official legal portal. It calls for Moscow to renounce the convention and its protocols, but does not explain the reasons for the move, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
The convention, adopted in 1987, allows the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to visit prisons and detention centers in member states. The CPT has repeatedly criticized Russia in past reports, citing torture in Chechnya, psychiatric hospitals and prisons.
In its latest report, released in November 2024, the CPT highlighted the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the Polar Wolf prison colony, where he had complained of mistreatment. It also raised concerns about the alleged torture of suspects accused in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack.
Moscow also noted that it has not been represented in the CPT since late 2023. Russia quit the Council of Europe, which oversees the treaty, in March 2022 after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin has steadily pulled Russia out of international rights treaties since then. In February 2023, lawmakers ended Moscow’s participation in 21 agreements with the Council of Europe, including the European Convention on Human Rights.
Later that year, Putin pushed for Russia to quit the convention on protecting national minorities, claiming Moscow could not influence its decisions.
Putin has not publicly commented on the torture convention in recent weeks. But he has supported or initiated similar withdrawals in the past, often framing them as a response to Western pressure.
Russian officials also argue that Ukraine suspended parts of the European Convention on Human Rights after martial law was declared. Kyiv, however, has the legal right to do so during wartime, while Russia’s exit from human rights treaties has been voluntary.
