A/HRC/S-22/4 II. Organization of work of the twenty-second 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 26 August 2014, the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva requested the convening of a special session of the Human Rights Council on 1 September 2014 on the human rights situation in Iraq in the light of abuses committed by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and associated groups. 3. On 26 August 2014, the Permanent Representative of Egypt (on behalf of the Group of Arab States), the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), the Permanent Representative of Pakistan (on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation) and the Permanent Observer of the European Union to the United Nations Office at Geneva signed jointly a letter expressing support for the above-mentioned request. 4. On 27 August 2014, the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva requested the convening of the above-mentioned special session on 1 September 2014. 5. The above-mentioned request was supported by 29 States Members of the Human Rights Council: Austria, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, the Congo, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Gabon, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Maldives, Montenegro, Morocco, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Romania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 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 28 observer States of the Council: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, the Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland and the State of Palestine. 6. The request was also supported by the following Member and observer States: Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Israel, Kazakhstan, Norway, Peru and Uruguay. 7. 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 open-ended informative consultations on 29 August 2014 and a special session of the Council on 1 September 2014. A. Opening and duration of the session 8. The Human Rights Council held its twenty-second special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 1 September 2014. It held two meetings during the session. 9. The twenty-second special session was opened by the President of the Human Rights Council. 6