The Russian authorities notified the Council of Europe of their decision to denounce the Convention on 30 October 2025. In accordance with Article 22 of the ECPT, the withdrawal takes effect one year after the date of notification.
The Russian Federation has been a Party to the Convention since 1998. Between 1998 and 2021, the CPT carried out 30 visits to the Russian Federation, during which it visited more than 450 places of deprivation of liberty. However, the Russian Federation was the only State Party to have a stated policy of not authorising the publication of CPT visit reports and the responses to them, while all other European countries advocated greater transparency. Consequently, only four visit reports were authorised for publication. The unpublished reports relate to periodic and ad hoc visits, including 10 visits to Chechnya and the North Caucasus between 2000 and 2017. Russia may authorise the publication of these reports at any time.
In the period since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February 2022, the CPT has received numerous accounts of alleged acts of torture and ill-treatment in places of detention by Russian officials not only within the occupied territories of Ukraine but also within the Russian Federation. However, due to the non-cooperation of the Russian authorities, the CPT has been unable to conduct a visit to the Russian Federation to examine the situation for itself. This lack of cooperation contrasts with that of the Ukrainian authorities who continue to allow visits by the CPT to any place of deprivation of liberty within its territory at any moment of choosing by the Committee. Moreover, Ukraine promotes transparency through the continued automatic publication of CPT reports.
“The withdrawal of the Russian Federation marks the end of the CPT’s monitoring mandate in the country. It also marks the end of any independent monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty inside the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, the Convention’s preventive approach remains as important as ever: independent monitoring of places of detention is a fundamental safeguard against torture and ill-treatment,” said Alan Mitchell, President of the CPT.
The CPT will continue to carry out its mandate in the 46 member States of the Council of Europe, with the aim of strengthening the protection of the dignity and rights of all persons deprived of their liberty.
