in Kinshaha argued there was no need for it.

"We will never know how many lives could have been saved if the Council, deferring to Congo's government, had not caused this unconscionable protection gap which slashed an early- warning mechanism just when the victims needed it most," Neuer said in a statement.

Over the past two years the Council has abolished the posts of several other location-specific special rapporteurs, including those in Belarus, Cuba and Sudan's Darfur region.

Since its launch in 2006 to replace the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the Council has held four special sessions on Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, one on Myanmar, one on Darfur, and one on the global food crisis.

(Editing by Laura MacInnis and Richard Balmforth)