UN prosecutors in East Timor today filed the first charges for "extermination" against nine anti-independence militiamen and two Indonesian soldiers for crimes committed after the territory seceded from Indonesia in 1999, officials said.
The suspects are accused of targeting 65 people in the isolated East Timorese enclave of Oecussi and murdering them in two massacres in September 1999, said UN prosecutor general in East Timor Mr Mohamed Othman.
"This indictment is significant as it is the first indictment for extermination," he said. "They segregated young males between 16 and 30 who were educated, tied them up and shot or macheted them to death." Mr Othman said the suspects are believed to be in Indonesia.
Prior to today's indictments, UN prosecutors had filed charges against several Indonesian military suspects, but Jakarta has refused to extradite them.
More than 1,000 people were murdered and over 80 per cent of East Timor's infrastructure destroyed by pro-Jakarta militias and their Indonesian military backers after the territory voted for independence in a UN-sponsored ballot.
The violence ended with the arrival of international peacekeepers. The UN is administering East Timor during its transition to independence next year.
AP