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Associated Press
September 27, 2001

U.N. Indicts 11 for E. Timor Crimes

DILI, East Timor (AP) - U.N. prosecutors in East Timor filed the first
indictments for extermination Thursday against 11 men suspected of committing
crimes after the territory seceded from Indonesia in 1999.

The suspects - nine anti-independence militiamen and two Indonesian soldiers
- are accused of targeting 65 people in the isolated East Timorese enclave of
Oecussi. The victims are believed to have been killed in two massacres in
September 1999, said Mohamed Othman, the U.N. prosecutor general in East
Timor.

``This indictment is significant as it is the first indictment for
extermination,'' Othman said. ``They segregated young males between 16 and 30
who were educated, tied them up and shot or macheted them to death.''

Othman said the suspects are believed to be in Indonesia.

More than 1,000 people were killed and much of East Timor's infrastructure
was destroyed by pro-Jakarta militias and their Indonesian military backers
after the territory voted for independence in the U.N.-sponsored ballot.

The violence ended with the arrival of international peacekeepers. The world
body is administering East Timor during its transition to independence next
year.

Before Thursday's indictments, U.N. prosecutors had filled charges against
several Indonesian military suspects. However, Jakarta has refused to
extradite them.