29/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU hails progress in tackling impunity and calls for abolition of the death penalty in DRC. That the alleged killers of human rights activist Floribert Chebeya and his driver Fidèle Bazana of the NGO “Voix des sans voix” (Voice of the voiceless) could be tried by the Congolese Supreme Military Court is seen by the European Union as a positive step in the application of justice and in tackling impunity, says a statement published by the spokesman of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton on 29 June. The statement notes that, from the outset, the EU has called for full light to be shed on this affair and for the trial to be conducted in exemplary fashion. Diplomats from the European Union missions have regularly attended sittings in the trial which, generally, passed off satisfactorily. The EU states that addressing impunity and supporting human rights are central to its partnership with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At the same time, the EU restates its position against the death penalty and calls for death sentences to be commuted to life imprisonment. (A.N./transl.rt)