The process for appointment is as follows. Candidates for UN independent human rights experts, also called "Special Procedures," are first vetted by a UN Human Rights Council Consultative Group, a geographically diverse or cross-regional group composed of five state representatives. The Consultative Group submits to the President of the Council a list of candidates "who possess the highest qualifications for the mandates in question and meet the general criteria and particular requirements". On the basis of the recommendations of the Consultative Group and following consultations, the President selects one candidate and presents it to the Council for approval.
In February 2014 the Consultative Group recommended that Christina Cerna, a prominent international human rights lawyer, become the next UN Special Rapporteur on Israel and replace Richard Falk. However, on March 3, 2014 the President of the Council refused to accept the Consultative Group's recommendation and published a list of all the candidates he had chosen for all the Special Procedures appointments except for the Special Rapporteur on Israel. He left it blank.
Then on March 6, 2014 the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) objected to the top candidate proposed by the Group because of the absence of known anti-Israel bias. Pakistan, acting on behalf of the OIC, circulated a letter which said:
- "Excellency,
I am writing this letter to you in my capacity as the OIC Coordinator on human rights and humanitarian issues. I would like to invite your attention towards recently recommended list of the mandate holders by the Consultative Group...
Unfortunately, the Consultative Group has recommended the name of a candidate as a Special Rapporteur on the 'situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967' who has no expertise nor relevant experience of the Middle East situation. This recommendation of the Consultative Group is a violation of the IB package. It is, therefore, unacceptable to the OIC."
On March 26, 2014 Yemen on behalf of the Arab group, went further, and sent a letter to the Council's President not only refusing the Consultative Group's recommendation, but demanding the appointment of Christine Chinkin to replace Falk. Chinkin had been short-listed by the Consultative Group and had established anti-Israel credentials. She had been a co-author of the slanderous Goldstone Report that had accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. The Arab Group lauded Chinkin's "relevant experience as relates to the mandate, particularly in terms of previous work on Palestine and the broader Middle East".
On March 27, 2014 the President of the Council published a revised list of the Special Procedures appointments, adding Chinkin as the new UN Special Rapporteur on Israel. He presented the list to the Council in the expectation it would be approved by consensus on the final day of the session.
However, on March 28, 2014, at the request of the Peruvian delegation - and in an attempt to avoid a vote threatened by the United States over the Chinkin appointment - the Council decided to postpone the appointment of all 19 special procedures to late April in order "to continue consultations".