Russia plans to withdraw from European Convention for Prevention of Torture
The Russian government has proposed that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin withdraw from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, which was adopted back in 1987.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in a corresponding resolution by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on the Russian government's website.
It is noted that the Russian dictator is being offered to denounce another convention, which the Russian Federation joined as a member of the Council of Europe. This step will allow Moscow to escape the control of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
"To approve and submit to the President of the Russian Federation for submission to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation a proposal on the denunciation by the Russian Federation of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 26 November 1987 and the protocols thereto of 4 November 1993, signed on behalf of the Russian Federation in Strasbourg on 28 February 1996," the resolution states.
The relevant convention prohibits torture and obliges its prevention. To this end, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (ECPT) was created, an independent international body that has been granted the right to conduct inspections in prisons, colonies, detention centres, psychiatric institutions and other places of deprivation of liberty.
In particular, the convention obliges participating countries to provide the Committee with: unhindered access to their territory, full information about places of detention, and the right to unrestricted movement within these institutions.
At the same time, a country may refuse a visit due to a threat to national security or emergency situations, so withdrawal from the convention will completely remove these obligations.
