Tue Oct 2, 12:01 PM ET

GENEVA - Top human rights officials on Tuesday attacked Myanmar's crackdown on peaceful protests at a special UN rights council session on the unrest.

The European Union has tabled a resolution urging the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to "condemn the continued violent repression of peaceful demonstrations in Myanmar."

It also calls for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

However China and non-aligned members of the council could oppose the resolution, stressing the need for dialogue with Myanmar's military rulers.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour said that Myanmar's leaders should not be allowed to escape international scrutiny.

"The shocking response ... is only the most recent manifestation of the repression of fundamental rights and freedoms that has taken place for nearly 20 years in Myanmar," she said.

"The Myanmar authorities should no longer expect that the self-imposed isolation will shield them from accountability.

"As the protestors become invisible, our concern only increases," Arbour said.

Protests erupted in mid-August after a massive hike in the price of fuel, but escalated two weeks ago when Buddhist monks emerged to lead the movement and drew up to 100,000 people onto the streets.

The protests have abated in recent days following last week's bloody clashes, but UN and regime officials told AFP on Tuesday that over 1,000 people remain detained at a campus in the main city of Yangon.

Speaking at the session in Geneva, Myanmar's ambassador U Nyunt Swe said the protests had sought to overthrow the regime and had been stoked by outside interests, but that the government had managed to restore calm.

"The government has firm evidence that these protests were being helped both financially and materially by internal and external anti-government elements," he said.

"As all are aware, things have calmed down. We are able to bring normalisation to the situation," he added.

Amnesty International welcomed the council's session but insisted the members must hold their nerve and strongly condemn the crackdown.

"We're concerned by certain governments, the Russians and others, (seeking) to water down the resolution," Judit Arenas, an official with the rights group told AFP.

"Now is not the time for consensus building," she added.

Russia's ambassador to the council did strike a more moderate tone, saying that Myanmar's problems should be solved by peaceful dialogue and democratic changes without any pressure from outside.

The humanitarian situation is far from catastrophic in the country, he added.

The UN's special rapporteur to Myanmar meanwhile condemned the crackdown on demonstrators and the fate of those detained by the security forces.

"We are deeply concerned by the fate of thousands of peaceful demonstrators who have been arrested," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told the session.

Myanmar has been the focus of a flurry of diplomatic activity since a government crackdown on anti-regime protests turned bloody last week with at least 13 people reported killed.

UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari met Myanmar's junta leader Than Shwe in the nation's capital Tuesday, as the military regime insisted it was not to blame for the crackdown.

China, a key trading power and importer of gas from Myanmar, has refused to take sides in the unrest so far, and Premier Wen Jiabao called Saturday on "all parties" to exercise restraint and seek stability "through peaceful means".