A/HRC/S-24/2 II. Organization of work of the twenty-fourth 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. On 11 December 2015, the Representative of the United States of America to the Human Rights Council requested the convening of a special session of the Human Rights Council on 17 December 2015 on preventing further deterioration of the situation of human rights in Burundi (see A/HRC/S-24/1). 3. The above-mentioned request was supported by 18 States Members of the Human Rights Council: Albania, Argentina, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. The request was also supported by 26 observer States of the Council: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Panama, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. 4. In addition, the request was also supported by the following observer States: Chile, Ukraine and Uruguay. 5. As more than one third of the membership of the Human Rights Council supported the above-mentioned request, the President of the Council, following consultations with the main sponsors, decided to convene an open-ended informative consultation on the conduct and organization of the special session on 16 December 2015, and the special session on 17 December 2015. A. Opening and duration of the session 6. The Human Rights Council held its twenty-fourth special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 17 December 2015. It held two meetings during the session. 7. The twenty-fourth special session was opened by the President of the Human Rights Council. B. Attendance 8. The special session was attended by representatives of States Members of the Human Rights Council, observer States of the Council, observers for non-Member States of the United Nations and other observers, and observers for United Nations entities, specialized agencies and related organizations, intergovernmental organizations and other entities, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations. C. Officers 9. At its organizational session of the ninth cycle, on 8 December 2014, the Human Rights Council elected the following officers, who also served as officers for the twentyfourth special session: 7