A/HRC/S-11/2 page 6 Against: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Abstaining: Argentina, Gabon, Japan, Mauritius, Republic of Korea, Ukraine. II. Organization of work of the eleventh special session 1. Pursuant to paragraph 10 of General Assembly resolution 60/251, and in accordance with rule 6 of the rules of procedure of the Human Rights Council as contained in the annex to Council resolution 5/1, the Council “shall hold special sessions, when needed, at the request of a member of the Council with the support of one third of the membership of the Council”. 2. In a letter dated 19 May 2009 addressed to the President of the Council (A/HRC/S-11/1), the Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva requested the convening of a special session of the Council on 25 May 2009 to address the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. 3. The request was supported by 17 States Members of the Council: Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mauritius, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Uruguay. 4. In addition to the above-mentioned Member States, the request was also supported by the following observer States of the Council: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden. 5. As more than one third of the membership of the Council supported the above-mentioned request, the President of the Council convened informative consultations on the matter on 25 May 2009 and decided to convene a special session of the Council on 26 and 27 May 2009. A. Opening and duration of the session 6. The Council held its eleventh special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 26 and 27 May 2009. It held three meetings during the session. 7. The eleventh special session was opened by the President of the Council. B. Attendance 8. The special session was attended by representatives of States Members of the Council, observer States of the Council, observers for non-Member States of the United Nations and other observers, as well as observers for United Nations entities, specialized agencies and related organizations, intergovernmental organizations and other entities, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations.