Russia officially withdraws from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture
Russia has definitively withdrawn from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, as a result of which any independent monitoring of places of detention in the country will cease.
This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to a statement by the Council of Europe.
The Russian authorities officially notified the Council of Europe of their decision to denounce the convention on October 30, 2025. Under Article 22 of the document, a state's withdrawal takes effect one year after the date of notification.
Russia had been a party to the agreement since 1998. During that time, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) carried out 30 visits to the Russian Federation and visited more than 450 places of detention.
The Russian Federation was the only member state that systematically refused to make public the reports on the results of the visits.
Over the years of cooperation, only 4 reports were allowed to be published, while 10 documents on Chechnya and the North Caucasus (2000-2017) remained closed.
