Russia will withdraw from European conventions on human rights and the fight against terrorism, according to a bill sent to parliament by President Vladimir Putin.
The project was publicized on the website of the Duma, the lower house of parliament, the official Russian agency TASS reported.
The move follows Russia’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe for invading Ukraine on February 24 last year.
Moscow will withdraw from 21 international agreements, including the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Convention against Terrorism and the European Social Charter, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.
The list also includes the Group for International Cooperation on Drugs and Drug Addiction, assistance in the event of natural disasters and agreements in the fields of sport and culture, according to a resolution approved by the Russian Government last July.
One day after the invasion, the Council of Europe initiated a procedure against Moscow for considering that “the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine” constituted a “serious violation” of the statutes of the organization.
The departure from Russia became official on March 16 last year.
In the explanatory letter accompanying the bill, Putin argued that the agreements in question no longer have legal force in Russia since it ceased to be a member of the Council of Europe.
Based in the French city of Strasbourg, the Council of Europe was created in 1949.
Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom are founding members.
Ukraine joined in 1995 and the Russian Federation in 1996.
The Council of Europe now has 46 members, including Portugal, which has been part of the organization since 1976.
Marija Pejcinovic Buric from Croatia is the current Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
In 1959, the council created the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.
On its website, the ECHR reported today that it had heard a complaint from three Russian same-sex couples and concluded that Moscow violated their rights by not recognizing the relationship or guaranteeing them legal protection.
“The Court had already rejected the government’s argument that the majority of Russians disapproved of homosexuality, in the context of cases relating to freedom of expression, assembly or association of sexual minorities,” read a statement from the ECtHR.
The court also considered that “democracy does not simply mean that the views of a majority must always prevail”, and that “fair treatment of persons belonging to minorities” must be guaranteed.
To justify having dealt with a complaint against a country that was no longer a member of the Council of Europe, the ECtHR said that Russia was still responsible for the acts denounced before the decision to leave the organization.
Russia “exceeded its margin of appreciation and breached its positive obligation to guarantee the applicants’ right to respect for their private and family life,” the ECtHR concluded, in a decision approved by 14 judges against three.
Source: TSF
