A/HRC/28/53 steep deterioration had also been observed in the exercise of freedom of expression, including, in particular, freedom of the press and access to information. 7. The Deputy High Commissioner emphasized the need to step up efforts to protect civilians and to ensure accountability for crimes and human rights violations committed in the course of the conflict. She noted that a legacy of human rights violations committed in the past had contributed to the current crisis. In that regard, she urged the international community to put pressure on the country’s leaders to prevent further violations and abuses by forces under their command and control, and to make clear that anyone committing crimes and human rights violations and abuses would be held accountable. 8. The Minister of Justice of South Sudan stated that the events in Juba on 15 December 2013 had amounted to an attempted coup by the former Vice-President Riek Machar and his supporters to overthrow an elected government. He stressed that what had happened on that fateful day had not been an ethnic feud or struggle, but the result of a political disagreement among politicians from different ethnic backgrounds. 9. The Minister briefed the Council on measures taken by the Government to maintain calm and stability in the country, mentioning, inter alia, the establishment of a crisis management committee, a peace, reconciliation and healing committee, and an investigation committee into human rights violations and abuses committed in the course of the conflict. He noted that the Government had regained control of areas previously under the control of rebels in the States of Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile. The Minister stated that the Government had accepted the cessation of hostilities and peace negotiated under IGAD auspices, and had welcomed the Commission of Inquiry formed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, under the African Union, to investigate human rights abuses in South Sudan. He also referred to a communiqué, signed by the Government, providing for direct negotiations between the Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition. He noted that the Popular Committee for Peacebuilding, established by the Government, had succeeded in persuading many internally displaced persons in the UNMISS compounds to return to their homes. 10. The Minister referred to several positive developments in the country, such as the Government’s endorsement of a human rights agenda prepared by the Human Rights Commission of South Sudan, and the passage of media laws by the national legislature. He acknowledged that the Government bore the primary responsibility for protecting civilians, and stressed that the promotion of peace, reconciliation and healing among South Sudanese remained the Government’s major priority. 11. The Chair of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan commended the African Union on having established the Commission. He explained that the Commission had been entrusted with helping to bring about a united and cohesive South Sudan via its mandate of healing, reconciliation, accountability and institutional reform. He mentioned that the commissioners had visited Juba and other areas in the region to assess the extent of the conflict and the human rights violations committed. They had met with government officials, the leaders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition, regional leaders in Ethiopia, Kenya, the Sudan and Uganda, and representatives of civil society and international organizations. They had also visited camps for internally displaced persons within South Sudan and camps for refugees in neighbouring countries. The Chair of the Commission stated that, although the conflict had started as a political dispute within the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Army, it had quickly degenerated into an ethnic conflict that had resulted in deep division and mistrust between the two major ethnic groups, the Dinka and the Nuer. He stressed that gross violations of human rights had been committed, and that no political leader in South Sudan could claim innocence. He underlined that the cycle of impunity had to stop in order for healing to take place. He also 4