Ukraine says Russian move to quit treaty against torture is “admission of guilt”

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) are seen after a swop with Russian POWs in the Donetsk region, May 2023. (Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/REUTERS)

KYIV  -  Ukraine criticised Russia on Wednesday for setting out plans to withdraw from the Council of Europe's treaty for the prevention of torture, saying the proposal was a tacit admission of guilt by Moscow.  

Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of war crimes and torturing civilians and prisoners of war since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Russia denies the allegations. 

According to a Russian government website, the government announced plans on Monday to quit the Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was signed by Moscow in 1996. 

"This step is effectively an admission of guilt - of systematic torture and an attempt to evade responsibility for gross human rights violations," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Russia's government did not respond to a request for comment.

Moscow's decision would need to be approved by President Vladimir Putin and passed in a vote in parliament before it comes into force, the website said.

In March, a United Nations Commission said that Russia's "widespread and systematic" use of enforced disappearances and torture of Ukrainians during its war in Ukraine amounted to crimes against humanity. 

The Netherlands and 40 other OSCE member states have also called for an independent investigation into allegations of torture and mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces.

 (Reporting by Yuliia DysaEditing by Ros Russell // REUTERS)