Russia’s Discussions About Reintroducing Capital Punishment: What Does It Mean for International Human Rights Law

I. Russia’s Discussions About Reintroducing Capital Punishment: What Does It Mean for International Human Rights Law

II. Introduction

Capital Punishment in Russia, interestingly, was never abolished like it was known to be done in the UK and 112 more countries. It had only been legally retained in 1966 when Russia had joined the Council of Europe and President Yeltsin placed a moratorium committing to cease execution and “abolish” capital punishment . However, recent speculations surrounding the possible reinstatement of capital punishment in Russia have sparked significant concerns within contemporary human rights and legal discussions.

Firstly, capital punishment directly conflicts with fundamental rights: Right to Life, Prohibition of Torture and Right to Fair Trial. International human rights instruments, the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, have encouraged abolition of capital punishment as a reflection of the evolving principles of justice and human dignity. Which, if Russia were to reinstate it, would be against the global drive to abolish capital punishment wherever possible.

Secondly, concerns of the irreversible nature of judicial errors. The risk of wrongful convictions and lack of proportionality challenge the legitimacy of capital punishment within the legal framework because once the individual has been executed for a wrongful accusation against him, it is irreversible and would not be able to be remedied or compensated.

Thus, this article examines the legal implications of Russia’s potential reinstatement of capital punishment and analyses the extent to which such measures may conflict with the modern standards of human rights law.

III. Main Body

Main Fundamental Rights: Right to Life

The most directly affected right is the right to life, under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The right to life is universally recognised as one of the most fundamental human rights under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, everyone’s life shall be protected by law and the state must not deprive a person of a life . Historically, the original wording of Article 2 permitted the death penalty in limited circumstances, but it was moved towards complete abolition of capital punishment because it undermined the internationally recognised human rights protections. Similarly, Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, every individual has the inherent right to life and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life . The article does not necessarily obligate those countries to abolish the death penalty which have not yet done so, it just allows limited use in certain circumstances like sentencing for the most serious crimes. However, there have been clear international movements taking place towards full abolition in the near future. Thus, Russia’s deliberation about the possible reinstatement of capital punishment would bring Russia in conflict with international human rights obligations and the broader global movement towards achieving abolition of capital punishment everywhere, additionally, modern human rights jurisprudence have essentially raised many criticism in this regard stating that capital punishment violates human dignity, proportionality and humane treatment .

Wrongful Convictions: Prohibition of Torture and Right to Fair Trial

In any criminal justice system, it is globally known for procedural failures to occur, for instance fabricated evidence, coerced confessions, investigative misconduct, or unfair trials that may lead to innocent individuals being convicted. Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights identically guarantees anyone that is charged of a crime has the ability to defend themselves equally in front of an impartial and independent court and/or tribunal . However, where capital punishment exists, such mistakes become irreversible because execution cannot be remedied or compensated to the victims’ families later on. An example of a judicial error happened during the hunt for one of the most gruesome serial killers known in Russian history, Andrei Chikatilo, happened to have an unintended but an irreversible consequence. Alexander Kravchenko was an innocent man who happened to be wrongly accused and executed for the murder of a girl that was the first victim out of the many linked to Chikatilo . He was convicted of rape, the police arrested him for the murder of the girl, totured him and he ended up confessing to a crime under coercion. Although throughout the 12 year hunt for Chikatolo, only one man was innocently executed, this happened to have had showcased how the main fundamental rights of an innocent man had been intervened with, just for the reason being of a procedural failure; his right to life, the prohibition of torture which is what led him to falsely confess in the pits of coercion and right to fair trial. Consequently, reinstating the death penalty would create serious risk of permanently violating the main fundamental rights of the modern legal standards through executing potentially innocent individuals for procedural failures.

IV. Conclusion

It has not been globally a recognised subject matter in order for extensive parliamentary debates to take place and the last official news published in this regard was back in 2022. Which means that there would be minimal to no sources of relevant articles or authority written information available to find at this current stage. Nevertheless, for Russian citizens there still is and will be an ongoing debate about Russia’s potential confederation of reintroducing capital punishment with the modern human rights standards. Reintroducing the death penalty would have a long term adverse effect on the Russian national itself in a number of ways, including worldwide condemnation if Russia were to do so, given the global drive to abolish the death penalty wherever possible. When Russia joined the Council of Europe, a moratorium was put into place to abolish the death penalty and reintroducing it would not only damage Russia’s reputation and weaken legal ties with foreign partners that oppose it. But it is a breach of the moratorium that had been agreed upon by Russia to legally retain the use of capital punishment. Therefore, the subject matter has raised important constitutional, international and moral questions regarding the compatibility of capital punishment with the modern international human rights standards.

V. Reference(S):

Statutes and statutory instruments

European Convention on Human Rights, art 2

European Convention on Human Rights, art 3

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art 6

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art 14

Protocol No 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty

Protocol No 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in All Circumstances

Online Journal Articles

Semukhina, BO, and Galliher, FJ, ‘Death penalty politics and symbolic law in Russia’ (2009) 37(4) ScienceDirect <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756061609000305> accessed 26 May 2026

Websites

Amnesty International, ‘Death sentences and executions 2025’ (amnesty.org, 18 May 2026) <https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/0778/2026/en/> accessed 26 May 2026

Council of Europe, ‘European Convention on Human Rights’ (echr.coe.int) <https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/convention_eng> 27 May 2026

Grunge, ‘The Surprising Thing That Happened During The Manhunt For Andrei Chikatilo’ (grunge.com, 18 February 2021) <https://www.grunge.com/337202/the-surprising-thing-that-happened-during-the-manhunt-for-andrei-chikatilo/> accessed 27 May 2026

Holod, ‘За и против смертной казни / Жестокое наказание или избавление для преступника’ (Youtube, 19 June 2021) <https://youtu.be/Qol6pVgH9J8?si=NB42KNeijRuezHuq> accessed 27 May 2026

ТАСС, ‘История смертной казни в России’ (tass.ru, 26 March 2026) <https://tass.ru/info/20361101> accessed 25 May 2026

The Advocates for Human Rights, ‘The Death Penalty’ (theadvocatesforhumanrights.org, 5 April 2023) <https://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/Res/Russia%20UPR%20DP%20FINAL%202.pdf> accessed 25 April 2026

United Nations, ‘International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ (ohchr.org, 16 December 1966) <https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights> accessed 27 May 2026