The Working Group on the Fight Against Torture presents the results of 2024 Index on Torture measurement in seven countries of the OSCE region: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine.
The 2024 Index was led by Kazakhstan. Belarus and Russia continue to rank at the bottom of the Index.
The summary data below shows both positive and negative trends in each country.
| Armenia | Belarus | Kazakhstan | Kyrgyzstan | Moldova | Russia | Ukraine | |
| 2019 Index | 93,77 | -94,2 | -3,04 | 9,45 | 121,26 | 0,81 | 107,83 |
| 2020 Index | 104 | -70,1 | 27,25 | 23,08 | 122,21 | -27,97 | 161,1 |
| 2021 Index | 84,08 | -92,8 | 107,17 | 31,42 | 161,50 | -26,64 | 145,57 |
| 2022 Index | 111,57 | -95,02 | 120,44 | 34,75 | 144,49 | 21,58 | 121,02 |
| 2023 Index | 131,53 | -93,83 | 122,51 | 80,36 | 128,91 | 21,61 | 92,02 |
| 2024 Index | 127,46 | -95,02 | 134,65 | 64,49 | 129,33 | 19,89 | 80,77 |
The figures indicate that overall, the Index scores across all countries remained largely unchanged.
Kazakhstan’s Index score continued to improve. According to national experts, the state response mechanism to torture has somewhat improved, particularly in terms of the increased independence and resourcing of the investigative body, as well as the effectiveness of torture investigations. Additionally, liability has been introduced for the damage or intentional destruction of video recordings from detention facilities. Altogether, these developments led to a 12.14-point increase in Kazakhstan’s overall Index.
Moldova’s Index on Torture score remained consistently high and showed virtually no change compared to the previous year.
A slight negative trend was observed in Armenia. The overall Index score decreased by 4.07 points due to the assessment of the effectiveness of torture investigations, which is a key component of the state torture response mechanism. Experts surveyed in Armenia rated the effectiveness of torture investigations in 2024 3.62 points lower than in 2023.
Ukraine’s score dropped by 11.25 points. This decline was solely due to a change in expert assessment regarding the accuracy of the definition of torture and ill-treatment in line with relevant international conventions. Despite the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice’s assertion that the national criminalization of torture complies with international standards, Ukrainian members of the CSP Working Group, who contributed to the shadow report to the UN Committee against Torture, analyzed the international documents in compliance with national legislation and concluded that the definition of torture in Ukrainian law does not fully align with established international standards. Their arguments were taken into account by the Committee and reflected in its concluding observations following the review of Ukraine’s periodic report on its compliance with the Convention against Torture.
In Kyrgyzstan, in 2024, there were minor positive changes in the structure of the state mechanism for responding to torture. According to experts, the provision of resources and the level of independence of the torture investigation body improved by several points. At the same time, experts noted a significant decrease in the quality of judicial statistics, as well as a deterioration in the implementation of procedural guarantees in practice. As a result, the Index for Kyrgyzstan for 2024 decreased by 11.29 points.
As in previous years, Belarus and Russia remain at the bottom of the Torture Prohibition Index. No positive developments were observed in either country in 2024. The Index score in Belarus dropped by 1.19 points, while in Russia it decreased by 1.72 points.
Working Group members from the following countries contributed to the Index preparation:
Crew against Torture, Russia
FREERIGHTS, Ukraine
Human Rights Center Viasna, Belarus
Human Rights Movement Bir Duino, Kyrgyzstan
International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Kazakhstan
Kadir Kassiyet, Kazakhstan
Promo-LEX Association, Moldova
Protection of Rights without Borders, Armenia
Public Verdict Foundation, Russia
Voice of Freedom, Kyrgyzstan
The Prohibition of Torture Index, developed by the Working Group in 2020, serves as a unique tool to assess the level of countries’ compliance with the prohibition of torture. The first pilot measurement of the Index was conducted in eight countries of the OSCE region using their 2019 data. The Index was then calculated for each country based on measurements reflecting the State’s performance in areas such as torture response mechanism, judicial review, statutory prohibition of torture in domestic legislation, procedural guarantees designed to prevent the use of torture, torture prevention instruments in place, and whether the State has fully ratified and implemented the international standards on the prohibition of torture.
Following the pilot measurement, the Working Group held a series of consultations to review the Index parameters in an effort to adopt a more comprehensive approach to assessing the situation in each country. As a result, a number of methodological adjustments were made, e.g. certain indicators were added or refined, and the criteria were balanced to reflect both the regulatory framework and the law enforcement practice. Furthermore, a new section was added to the Index, assessing the effectiveness of torture investigations based on surveys of relevant experts, such as lawyers, prosecutors, judges, criminal investigators, and human rights defenders.