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The Federal Law denounces the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and Protocols No. 1 and 2 thereto, signed on behalf of the Russian Federation on February 28, 1996, in Strasbourg and ratified on March 28, 1998.

Following the Council of Europe’s decision to block the election of a new Russian representative to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – due to the expiry of the previous member’s mandate – the Russian Federation has not been represented on this Committee since December 2023 and is unable to participate fully in the work of this monitoring mechanism. Requests to ensure Russia’s representation on the Committee were ignored, despite the principle of cooperation set out in the European Convention.

These discriminatory circumstances not only violate Russia’s right to representation on the European Committee but also undermine the mechanism established by the European Convention for mutual monitoring of compliance with international obligations concerning protection from torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Consequently, a proposal was made to denounce this Convention and its Protocols.

In accordance with the Federal Law On International Treaties of the Russian Federation, the decision to denounce the European Convention and its Protocols, which were ratified by Federal Law No 44-FZ of March 28, 1998, must be adopted in the form of a federal law.