A/HRC/S-27/3 II. Organization of work of the twenty-seventh 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 28 November 2017, the Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Office at Geneva requested the convening of a special session of the Human Rights Council on 5 December 2017 on the situation of human rights of the minority Rohingya Muslim population and other minorities in Rakhine State of Myanmar (see A/HRC/S-27/1 and 2). 3. The above-mentioned request was supported by the following 33 States Members of the Human Rights Council: Albania, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Togo, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America. The request was also supported by the following 40 observer States of the Council: Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, the Sudan, Sweden, Turkey and the State of Palestine. 4. Subsequently, the request was also supported by the following observer States: Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico. 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 4 December 2017, and the special session on 5 December. A. Opening and duration of the session 6. The Human Rights Council held its twenty-seventh special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 5 December 2017. It held two meetings during the session. 7. The twenty-seventh 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. 8