The President of the Human Rights Council received a letter on Friday, 18 July signed by the Permanent Representative of Egypt on behalf of the Arab Group, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine containing the request to convene the Special Session.
In order for a Special Session to be convened, the support of one-third of the Council – 16 or more - is required. The request was supported by the following States Members of the Council: Algeria, Benin, China, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
The request was also supported by the following observer States: Brunei Darussalam, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, State of Palestine and Turkey.
The Special Session will be held on Wednesday, 23 July 2014 in Room XX at the Palais des Nations. The time of the start of the meeting has not yet been determined.