Russia Denounces European Convention Against Torture, Ending International Monitoring

At the end of September, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed a law, after which Russia will officially denounce the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. An official document with this news was published on the Russian legal information portal.

“To denounce the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 26 November 1987 and Protocols No. 1 and No. 2 of 4 November 1993 thereto, signed on behalf of the Russian Federation in Strasbourg on 28 February 1996”

Consequences of denunciation and changes in monitoring mechanisms

According to government documents, Russia is no longer obliged to allow international inspectors to penitentiary institutions, and appeals by prisoners to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture will no longer be officially considered as part of monitoring. This step changes the status of control mechanisms on the part of the European institutional system, which previously served as an important channel of transparency of conditions of detention in Russian facilities.

In the explanatory note to the bill it is stated that withdrawal from the convention is linked to the alleged blocking by the Council of Europe of the election of a new member to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, as well as to statements about the lack of possibility to participate fully in the work of this international monitoring mechanism since December 2023.

The European Convention of 1987 not only obliges countries to prohibit torture, but also establishes a prevention system: experts have the right to visit penal institutions without notice, assess the conditions of detention, and publish independent reports. Russia managed to sign the document in 1996 during its association with the Council of Europe; since then, experts have regularly visited Russian colonies and pre-trial detention centers, documenting violations. In March 2022, Russia was officially expelled from the Council of Europe.

In February 2025, The Wall Street Journal, citing three former employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service, reported that after the full-scale invasion the leadership of Russia’s penitentiary system lifted all restrictions on the use of violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war. Such material underscores the seriousness of crisis processes in the context of human rights and the impact on the international regime of monitoring compliance in this area.

Ultimately, the denunciation of the convention means a radical reboot of Russia’s interaction with European institutions that monitor human rights and prevent torture. It also raises questions about the effectiveness of existing mechanisms monitoring the penitentiary system’s behavior and calls for careful oversight by the international community and human rights organizations. Expected consequences include a reassessment of how it interacts with international institutions and possible shifts in regulatory processes related to the protection of prisoners’ rights.