A/HRC/25/69 I. Introduction 1. The Ad Hoc Committee on the elaboration of complementary international standards submits the present report pursuant to Human Rights Council decisions 3/103 and 10/30 and resolution 6/21. II. Organization of the session 2. The Ad Hoc Committee held its fifth session from 22 July to 2 August 2013. During the session, the Ad Hoc Committee held 14 meetings. A. Attendance 3. The session was attended by representatives of Member States, non-Member States represented by observers, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. B. Opening of the session 4. The 1st meeting of the fifth session of the Ad Hoc Committee on the elaboration of complementary standards was opened on 22 July 2013 by Yury Boychenko, Chief of the Anti-Discrimination Section, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He noted that the Council, in its resolution 21/30 of 28 September 2012, had requested OHCHR to distribute a questionnaire, from existing resources, to gather information on the three topics discussed by the Ad Hoc Committee during its fourth session and covered in its report (A/HRC/21/59). He mentioned that the ChairpersonRapporteur’s summary of responses and the original responses received to the questionnaire were available on the OHCHR website. He noted that the Chairperson-Rapporteur had held several meetings of regional coordinators since the fourth session in order communicate with them and prepare the fifth session, and he expressed hope that the open and constructive dialogue would continue during the session. C. Election of the Chairperson-Rapporteur 5. During the 1st meeting, the Ad Hoc Committee elected Abdul Samad Minty, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations Office at Geneva as its Chairperson-Rapporteur, by acclamation. In his brief introductory remarks, he stated that the Committee would continue its discussion on issues with the incremental approach adopted in previous sessions. That afforded the Committee an opportunity to further reflect on and understand the issues to be discussed, as well as the link between the mandate of the Committee and paragraph 199 of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA). Other topics would also be introduced for consideration by the Committee. 6. Based on the consensus achieved during the previous session, he encouraged the Committee to continue its focus on the plight of victims and to ensure unconditional respect for human dignity. In that regard, he considered it useful to explore possibilities of an international regulatory framework for xenophobia, given the more aggressive manifestations of xenophobia, which needed stronger measures. He hoped that the Committee would do its utmost to fulfil its mandate and he looked forward to constructive and meaningful discussions to address the very important subject matter before it. 3