Overview
- President Vladimir Putin signed a law on September 29 formalizing Russia’s exit from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture after parliamentary approval.
- Loss of membership blocks Council of Europe experts from visiting Russian detention sites and independently assessing treatment of detainees.
- UN Special Rapporteur Alice Jill Edwards says Russian forces used a Soviet TA-57 field telephone to deliver electric shocks to detainees’ genitals, ears and fingers, a practice nicknamed “Anruf bei Putin/Lenin.”
- A UN dossier sent to Moscow cites ten documented cases under occupation involving men, women and children, detailing sexualized violence, beatings, burns and coerced confessions used to intimidate communities.
- Edwards says Moscow has not answered her detailed communications and asserts Putin bears personal responsibility, while Ukrainian authorities report hundreds of sexual-violence cases, including 19 involving children.