A/HRC/S-1/3 page 5 III. ORGANIZATION OF WORK OF THE SPECIAL SESSION 1. Pursuant to paragraph 10 of General Assembly resolution 60/251, of 15 March 2006, the Human Rights Council “shall be able to 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. By a letter dated 30 June 2006, addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council, the Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, on behalf of the Group of Arab States, requested that a special session of the Council be convened immediately “to consider the latest escalation of the situation in the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories” (see document A/HRC/S-1/1). The letter was received by the President, on the same day, following the closure of the first session of the Council. 3. The letter was accompanied by signatures in support of the above-mentioned request from the following 21 States members of the Council: Algeria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Brazil; China; Cuba; Gabon; India; Indonesia; Jordan; Malaysia; Mali; Morocco; Pakistan; Russian Federation; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; South Africa; Sri Lanka; and Tunisia. 4. As more than one third of the membership supported the above-mentioned request, the President, following consultations with the Bureau, decided to convene a special session of the Council from 5 to 6 July 2006. A. Opening and duration of the session 5. The Council held its first special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 5 and 6 July 2006. It held 2 meetings (A/HRC/S-1/SR.1-2) 1 during the session. 6. The first special session was opened by the President of the Council, Mr. Luis Alfonso de Alba. B. Attendance 7. The special session was attended by representatives of States members of the Council, observer States of the Council, observers for non-member States of the United Nations and other observers, as well as 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 8. At its first session (held from 19 to 30 June 2006), the Council had elected the following officers, who also served as officers for the first special session: 1 Summary records of each of the meetings are subject to correction. They are considered final with the issuance of a consolidated corrigendum (A/HRC/S-1/SR.1-2/Corrigendum).