Russia's withdrawal from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture enters into force
The denunciation that Russia notified to the Council of Europe in October 2025 took effect on 1 November 2026. Russia thereby no longer accepts independent international monitoring of places of detention.
Russia's withdrawal from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment entered into force on 1 November 2026.
On 30 October 2025, the Russian authorities officially informed the Council of Europe that they were denouncing the convention. The denunciation was registered with an entry-into-force date of 1 November 2026. Under Article 22 of the convention, a withdrawal takes effect 12 months after the Secretary General of the Council of Europe receives the notification, and the state remains bound by the convention's obligations during that period.
With this step, Russia no longer accepts independent external oversight of places of deprivation of liberty. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, established under the convention, visits prisons, detention centres and other places of detention in the states parties to examine the treatment of detainees. Russia is reported to have frequently failed to cooperate with this committee.
Russia joined the convention in 1998. In September 2025, Vladimir Putin signed the law on the denunciation of the convention.
Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022 and ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights on 16 September of the same year. The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture was adopted in 1987 and entered into force in 1989.
