The Human Rights Council will hold a special session to address “the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” on Thursday, 27 May.
The special session is being convened following an official request submitted late Wednesday jointly by Pakistan, as Coordinator of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the State of Palestine. It is supported by 63 States so far.
The meeting will be webcast live and will take place starting 10 a.m. on 27 May in a hybrid virtual format at the Palais des Nations in room 18. Due to COVID-19 measures, the majority of interventions will be delivered online.
In order for a special session to be convened, the support of one-third of the 47 members of the Council – 16 or more – is required. This request is so far supported by the following States members of the Council (20): Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Gabon, Indonesia, Libya, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
The request is also supported by the following observer States (43): Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the State of Palestine.
The list of signatories remains open up to the holding of the special session. Therefore, the above list of States is to be considered provisional.
In connection with this special session, the Council will convene an organisational meeting on Tuesday, 25 May at 2 p.m. when specific details on the special session and its scenario will be announced. This meeting will also be public and will be webcast.
This will be the thirtieth special session of the Human Rights Council. The last one was held in February 2021 on the human rights implications of the crisis in Myanmar.