NNA - 

The UN Human Rights Council was to discuss Friday a call to monitor the rights situation in Russia, marking the first ever resolution focused on violations inside the country.

Nearly all EU countries have presented a draft text to the top UN rights body asking it to appoint a so-called Special Rapporteur to monitor Russia, amid concerns over an intensifying crackdown by Moscow as its war rages in neighbouring Ukraine.

The draft resolution, hotly contested by Russia, is expected to go to a vote, which will be closely watched after Western countries suffered a crushing defeat at the council on Thursday when a first-ever attempted resolution on China was narrowly rejected.

That one, which called for only a debate about a UN report warning of serious violations and possible crimes against humanity in China's Xinjiang region, failed after intense lobbying by Beijiing.

That failure indicated a shifting power balance and even raised questions about the credibility of the council itself, rights groups said.

If the Russia resolution, which goes much further and calls for actual action to monitor the situation inside the country, were also to flounder, it would be seen a disaster for the western backers.

But observers said countries were likely to have fewer qualms about supporting a resolution against Russia than against China, and said it was expected to pass.

The resolution, which will be voted on Russian President Vladimir Putin's 70th birthday, calls for the appointment of a special rapporteur to monitor "the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation for a period of one year".

The rapporteur would  "collect, examine and assess relevant information from all relevant stakeholders, including Russian civil society both inside and outside of the country," and present a report in a year's time, and another to the General Assembly in New York.

While it would be the first resolution targeting the situation inside Russia, the council has recently adopted other resolutions condemning Moscow's war in Ukraine, and ordering a high-level probe of violations by Russian troops there.

But there has been growing pressure, from Russian rights groups especially, for the body to also turn its gaze on rights abuses inside Russia.-- AFP

================ L.Y