Ukraine: Russia Runs Away From Responsibility To Human Rights Violations
JAKARTA - Ukraine criticized Russia for planning to withdraw from the European Council's agreement on the prevention of torture. Ukraine says it is a secret guilty confession by Moscow.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of war crimes and tortured civilians and prisoners of war since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Russia denies the allegations.
According to the Russian government's website, the government announced plans for Monday to exit the Convention on the Prevention of Torture and Implementation or Unhumane Punishment or Lowering Dignity, which Moscow signed in 1996.
"This move is effectively a guilty confession of systematic torture and an attempt to avoid responsibility for gross human rights abuses," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Russian government did not respond to requests for comment.
Moscow's decision needs to be approved by President Vladimir Putin and passed in a vote in parliament before it takes effect, the website said.
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In March, the United Nations Commission (UN) declared the use of forced removal and torture of Ukrainians that were "widening and systematic" by Russia during the war in Ukraine a crime against humanity.
The Netherlands and 40 other OSCE member states also called for an independent investigation into allegations of torture and mistreatment of prisoners of the Ukrainian war by Russian forces.