MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) - The State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously recommended on Wednesday that a bill terminating the validity of Council of Europe international agreements for Russia be adopted.
The bill was submitted to the State Duma by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Following the termination of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe, it is proposed that a total of 21 international treaties be terminated with respect to Russia since March 16, 2022, including: the Charter of the Council of Europe, the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, the European Charter of Local Self-Government, the European Social Charter.
The explanatory note noted that on February 25, 2022 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on the suspension of Russia's membership in statutory bodies of the Council of Europe. On March 15, 2022, Russia formally notified the Council of Europe secretary general of its intention to withdraw from the Council of Europe based on Article 7 of the Council of Europe Statute (which governs the procedure for voluntary withdrawal) as well as to denounce the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. On March 16, 2022, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on the termination of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe as of the same date.
Russia proceeds from the fact that the said Convention and other aforementioned international treaties of the Council of Europe ceased to be effective for Russia as of March 16, 2022.
The amount of Russia's contribution to the budgets of the Council of Europe and its partial agreements for 2022 should have amounted to about 33.7 million euros, the explanatory note said. Due to the termination of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe, it was decided to pay fees only for the period of presence in the organization in 2022 from January 1 to March 15 last year. The total amount was about 5.7 million euros, the document said.
Commenting on the bill, State Duma Foreign Affairs Council Chairman Leonid Slutsky said that "the denunciation of, in particular, the ECHR will not have a negative impact on the respect for human rights in Russia."
"In the 26 years of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe, all of its provisions were at least implemented in the national legislation in one way or another, they are and will remain in force. Besides, the Russian constitution envisages broader guarantees in the field of human rights than those provided by the European Convention on Human Rights," Slutsky said.