A/HRC/S-19/2 II. Organization of work of the nineteenth 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 30 May 2012, the Permanent Representatives of Denmark, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the Ambassador of the European Union to the United Nations Office at Geneva and the Ambassador of the United States of America to the Human Rights Council requested the convening of a special session of the Human Rights Council on 1 June 2012 on the deteriorating situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic and the recent killings in El-Houleh. 3. The above-mentioned request was supported by 21 States Members of the Human Rights Council: Austria, Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Kuwait, Maldives, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Poland, Qatar, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, the United States of America and Uruguay. The request was also supported by 31 observer States of the Council: Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 4. In addition, the request was also signed by the following Member and observer States: Brazil, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Honduras, Jordan, Morocco and Oman. 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 open-ended informative consultations on 31 May 2012 and a special session of the Council on 1 June 2012. A. Opening and duration of the session 6. The Human Rights Council held its nineteenth special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 1 June 2012. It held two meetings during the session. 7. The nineteenth special session was opened by the President of the Human Rights Council, Laura Dupuy Lasserre. 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, 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. 5