A/HRC/S-25/2 II. Organization of work of the twenty-fifth 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 18 October 2016, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva requested the convening of a special session of the Human Rights Council on 21 October 2016 on the deteriorating situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic, and the recent situation in Aleppo (see A/HRC/S-25/1). 3. The above-mentioned request was supported by 16 States Members of the Human Rights Council: Belgium, France, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Portugal, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The request was also supported by 17 observer States: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. 4. Subsequently, the request was also supported by the following Member and observer States: Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Hungary, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Maldives, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine and the United States of America. 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 20 October 2016, and the special session on 21 October 2016. A. Opening and duration of the session 6. The Human Rights Council held its twenty-fifth special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 21 October 2016. It held two meetings during the session. 7. On 21 October 2016, prior to the opening of the special session, the Human Rights Council observed a minute of silence in memory of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. 8. The twenty-fifth special session was opened by the Vice-President and Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council, Geert Myulle (Belgium). B. Attendance 9. 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. 5