Geneva - (AFP) - European Union countries, with the exception of Hungary, intend to ask the United Nations Human Rights Council to monitor Russia's situation, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

These sources told AFP that a draft resolution requesting the establishment of a special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia is being prepared to be presented to the fifty-first session of the Council, which will be held until October 7 in Geneva.
Luxembourg will present the project on behalf of the group, and the support of other countries is being mobilized.

"It is incumbent on European countries to immediately present a draft resolution aimed at establishing this mission, or we will face an additional six months of inaction in the face of the human rights crisis in Russia," Dave Alsroud of the Geneva-based Human Rights House Foundation told AFP.

The issue was raised mainly by the member states of the European Union during the previous session of the Human Rights Council this summer, but no agreement was reached on the timetable for action.

Now that European countries have decided to act, they will have to ensure a strong coalition is built because the texts must be ratified by a majority of the 47 member states of the Human Rights Council.

The council, the UN's top human rights body, launched a high-level investigation into abuses committed by Russian forces in Ukraine in May, and is scheduled to hear from investigators on September 23. But there is increasing pressure for the commission to also look into human rights violations in Russia and to establish a position as a special rapporteur.

On Monday, the United Nations strongly condemned the human rights situation in Russia. The Acting High Commissioner, Nada Al-Nashif, criticized in particular the "intimidation" of opponents of the war in Ukraine, as well as the various "forms of censorship" in force in the country.

On the other hand, Russia attacked the United Nations on Tuesday, stressing the High Commissioner's "bias".

But Moscow, which left the Council when the United Nations General Assembly voted to expel it a few months ago because of the invasion of Ukraine, has the right of observer and in this capacity can speak before the Council.