Russia's withdrawal from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) sees Russia's plans to withdraw from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture as cementing Russia's departure from European values and fundamental human rights protection.

“International mechanisms such as the Council of Europe's Convention for the Prevention of Torture are important instruments for drawing attention to individual cases,” said Sarah Reinke, head of human rights work at the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) in Göttingen today. “With its announcement, the Russian government is very clearly underlining its departure from human rights principles and European values. Victims of torture are losing an important opportunity to receive help,” said Reinke, criticizing Russia's decision.

The Council of Europe Convention not only prohibits torture and inhuman treatment, but also contains mechanisms for enforcing obligations. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is an independent international body tasked with monitoring detention facilities. “Committee staff have repeatedly visited Russian prisons. They have made torture practices public and denounced Russia's human rights violations. Now this instrument is being removed,” the human rights activist criticizes. Russia remains a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture. As a neutral organization, the Red Cross also has access to Russian prisons. The STP calls on both mechanisms to fill the gap left by Russia's withdrawal from the European Convention.

“Torture is systematic in Russian prisons. Prisoners from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as the 133 Crimean Tatar political prisoners, are particularly exposed to severe torture and harassment,” says Reinke. In February of this year, a Crimean Tatar political prisoner died as a result of torture and failure to provide medical assistance in the prison in Dimitrovgrad in the Ulyanovsk region. During his stay in the remand prison and the penal colony, his health deteriorated rapidly. “As a result of beatings, his kidneys failed, his blood sugar level rose, his limbs swelled, and fluid accumulated in his lungs. He was unable to walk, suffered severe pain, and received no medical care. His relatives were not allowed to send him medication. In February 2025, it became known that he had died in Dimitrovgrad,” Reinke reports. The exact date of death is unknown. The relatives were not allowed to bury the deceased.

This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at presse@gfbv.de.