MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has recommended that the State Duma and the Federation Council (the lower and upper houses of Russia’s parliament respectively) should consider a bill on toughening penalties for the use of torture by public officials, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday.

"I shall recommend the chambers of the Federal Assembly (parliament - TASS) of the Russian Federation to consider the federal bill clarifying the term of ‘torture’ in conformity with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Resolution 39/46 adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1984) and stipulating more severe liability for criminal acts of torture committed by public officials," says one item on the president’s list of instructions, published following the meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights in December.

The deadline for this item is set until July 1, 2022.

The bill on stricter penalties for torture was drafted by Pavel Krasheninnikov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation, and Andrey Klishas, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building. The bill stiffens penalties for officials who use torture to compel people to incriminate themselves or to harass and intimidate them. Torture will carry penalty of up to 12 years in prison, which takes them to the category of extremely serious offenses.

Putin said at his annual press conference on December 23, 2021 that cases of torture and, in general, brutal treatment of convicts in prisons are not only a Russian problem, but also a worldwide one. He pointed out that 17 criminal cases had been opened in Russia to investigate the revealed offenses, and that they "should be brought to a conclusion so that it will be clear to everyone that the punishment for these crimes is inevitable.".