A/HRC/S-23/2 II. Organization of work of the twenty-third 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 March 2015, the Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva requested, on behalf of the Group of African States in Geneva, the convening of a special session of the Human Rights Council on 1 April 2015 in the light of the terrorist attacks and human rights abuses and violations committed by the terrorist group Boko Haram. 3. The above-mentioned request was supported by 19 States Members of the Human Rights Council: Algeria, Botswana, Brazil, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). The request was also supported by four observer States of the Council: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Djibouti and Mozambique. 4. In addition, the request was also supported by the following Member and observer States: Argentina, Benin, Chad, Cuba, the Niger, Senegal and Togo. 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 30 March 2015, and the special session on 1 April 2015. A. Opening and duration of the session 6. The Human Rights Council held its twenty-third special session at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 1 April 2015. It held two meetings during the session. 7. On 30 March 2015, at the open-ended informative consultation before the special session, at the request of the representative of Somalia, the Human Rights Council observed a minute of silence in memory of the late Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Yusuf Mohamed Ismail. The President of the Human Rights Council and the representatives of Algeria, on behalf of the Group of African States, and Somalia made statements. 8. On 1 April 2015, prior to the opening of the special session, at the request of the representative of Tunisia, on behalf of the Group of Arab States, the Human Rights Council also observed a minute of silence in memory of the late Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Yusuf Mohamed Ismail. The representatives of Algeria (on behalf of the Group of African States), Ethiopia, the European Union, Guatemala (on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States), Sierra Leone, Tunisia (on behalf of the Group of Arab States) and the United States of America (on behalf of the Group of Western European and other States) made statements. 9. The twenty-third special session was opened by the President of the Human Rights Council. 6