Overview

• A decree dated Aug. 23 and signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin asks President Vladimir Putin to submit withdrawal from the European anti-torture convention to the State Duma, with no exit date set.
• Ukraine’s foreign ministry called the move an admission of guilt for systematic torture and an effort to avoid accountability.
• The Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee reports Russia has blocked cooperation and access since its 2022 expulsion, including requests for information on Alexei Navalny’s 2024 death in an Arctic penal colony.
• UN-backed experts reported evidence of systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and the European Court of Human Rights recently found Russia responsible for violations including torture and the use of rape as a weapon of war.
• Rights groups say quitting the convention further dismantles remaining oversight, while Russia remains a party to the UN Convention Against Torture and denies torturing prisoners of war.