A/HRC/DEC/43/116 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 2 June 2020 Original: English Human Rights Council Forty-third session Agenda item 1 Organizational and procedural matters Decision adopted by the Human Rights Council on 29 May 2020 43/116. On 29 May 2020, the Human Rights Council decided to adopt the text below: “The Human Rights Council, Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Recalling General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006 and Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007 on institution-building of the Council, Noting with concern the unprecedented situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is preventing the Human Rights Council from holding plenary meetings within the United Nations premises as long as the precautionary measures aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 are in place, 1. Authorizes the President of the Human Rights Council to circulate, after consultation with the Bureau, the present draft decision as well as the draft President’s statement on COVID-19 to all Members of the Council under a silence procedure of 72 hours; 2. Decides that, unless the silence is broken, both the present draft decision and the draft President’s statement on COVID-19 shall be considered adopted as part of the forty-third session of the Council, which shall be deemed resumed at the moment the silence procedure expires for the sole purpose of adopting these two documents, and suspended again immediately thereafter; 3. Also decides that the procedure for the adoption of the draft President’s statement on COVID-19 shall apply solely to the current exceptional circumstances during which plenary meetings of the Human Rights Council are not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that it shall not serve as a precedent.” GE.20-07317(E) 