Members of the political delegations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the the Council of Europe hold a minute of silence for the victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 14, 2022 at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, northeastern France. AFP
STRASBOURG 鈥� Russia said Tuesday it would pull out of the Council of Europe after pressure mounted for Moscow to be expelled from the pan-European rights body over its invasion of Ukraine.
Essentially jumping before it was pushed from the Strasbourg-based body, the Russian foreign ministry said it had given notification of its departure to the Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric.
The decision draws the curtain on Russia鈥檚 quarter century membership of the Council of Europe (COE) and also opens the way for Moscow to reimpose the death penalty if the authorities decide.
The so-called 鈥淩uxit鈥� from the Council of Europe means that Russia will no longer be a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights and its citizens will no longer be able to file applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
It is only the second time in the history of the Council of Europe that a member state has announced it has quit the body after Greece walked out temporarily in the late 1960s.
Russia was suspended from all its rights of representation a day after tens of thousands of troops entered Ukraine on February 24.
鈥淎s leaders of the Council of Europe we expressed on several occasions our firm condemnation of the Russian Federation鈥檚 aggression against Ukraine,鈥� Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, the president of the Council of Europe鈥檚 Parliamentary Assembly, Tiny Kox, and the secretary general of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, said in a statement.
鈥淭he Committee of Ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting tomorrow morning also in the light of today鈥檚 notification by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation of the Russian leadership鈥檚 decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe,鈥� they said.
Ukraine鈥檚 Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal had on Monday demanded that Russia be immediately expelled, saying it had no right to remain a member after sending troops to the pro-Western country.
Eyes on death penalty
The Russian foreign ministry posted a statement on 鈥渓aunching the procedure to exit the Council of Europe鈥� on its Telegram account, adding it had 鈥渘o regret鈥� about leaving.
Russia joined the Council of Europe in 1996.
The ministry said its exit would 鈥渘ot affect the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens鈥� and that 鈥渢he implementation of already adopted resolutions of the European Court of Human Rights will continue, if they do not contradict Russia鈥檚 Constitution鈥�.
It claimed that EU and Nato member states within the Council of Europe had turned the organization into an 鈥渋nstrument for anti-Russian policies鈥�.
Russia鈥檚 exit will mark a major change for the ECHR which acts as a court of final instance when all domestic avenues are exhausted.
Cases brought by Russian citizens have piled up at the ECHR accounting for 24 percent of the current cases, such as those concerning dissident prisoner Alexei Navalny.
No member state has ever been expelled from the Council of Europe, which was created in 1949 and has 47 member states including Russia.
Moscow鈥檚 move has one precedent 鈥� when it was under military rule Greece walked out of the body in 1969 to avoid being expelled. Athens then rejoined in 1974 after the fall of the junta.
Not using the death penalty is a precondition of COE membership, and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy national security council chief, had evoked bringing back capital punishment if Russia left the body.
Medvedev had described Russia鈥檚 suspension as 鈥渁 good opportunity to restore a number of important measures to prevent especially serious crimes 鈥� such as the death penalty鈥� which is actively used in the US and China鈥�.
Russia has observed a moratorium on the death penalty since 1996 though it has never formally abolished the practice.
Belarus, the only European country to still use the death penalty and Moscow鈥檚 ally, is not a member of the organisation.
A Russian exit will also deprive the COE of nearly seven percent of its annual budget, around 500 million euros ($545 million).
But Buric told AFP this month she had received 鈥渞eassuring鈥� signals from several member states, including France and Germany, ready to guarantee the financial sustainability of the organisation.
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