U.N. rights council to monitor human rights violation in Russia

It is the first-ever resolution focused on rights violations inside a country.

The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday agreed to monitor the rights situation in Russia, marking the first-ever resolution focused on violations inside the country.

The 47-member top U.N. rights body accepted the draft text presented by all European Union countries with the exception of Hungary, with 17 nations voting in favour of appointing a so-called special rapporteur to monitor Russia.

Twenty-four countries abstained, while six voted 'no', including China, Cuba and Venezuela.

The vote comes a few months after Russia was kicked off the council over its war in Ukraine, and marks the first time the rights body has decided to delve into the situation inside the country.

It also came less than two hours after this year's Nobel Peace Prize was symbolically awarded to rights champions from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, three nations at the centre of President Vladimir Putin's war.

Ahead of the vote, Russian ambassador Gennady Gatilov slammed the move, saying it was just another example of "the way in which Western countries are using the council to attain their political goals."

The resolution, adopted on 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".