U.N. urges Indonesia to judge E. Timor killers

GENEVA, April 20 (Reuters) - The United Nations urged Indonesia on Friday to bring those responsible for bloodshed in East Timor to justice and rein in militias intimidating thousands of refugees still in camps.

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights also called for completion of the voluntary repatriation of refugees from the camps in West Timor so they can register to vote in East Timor's first democratic elections set for August 30.

The "chairman's statement," a milder form of rebuke than a resolution, was adopted by consensus by the 53-member forum after being negotiated with Indonesia's delegation.

In August 1999, tiny East Timor overwhelmingly voted to split from Jakarta's rule, ending 23 years of often brutal Indonesian domination but sparking Jakarta-backed carnage.

The U.N. refugee agency says that between 50,000 and 70,000 of the total 250,000 refugees who fled at the time remain in West Timor, but are intimidated from returning home by militias.

The Commission welcomed "encouraging improvements of the judicial system in East Timor and the first measures that have been taken against suspects accused of crimes against humanity and other serious crimes committed during the violence in 1999."

It stressed the importance of continuing international aid to strengthen the devastated territory's nascent justice system.

The Commission took note of efforts by Indonesia's attorney general to investigate fully violations perpetrated in East Timor and a recent parliamentary proposal to set up an ad-hoc human rights court to try suspects.

It urged Indonesia to establish the court without delay "and to bring to justice those responsible for violations of human rights and humanitarian law abuses in East Timor."

"The Commission will continue to monitor closely developments and in their light consider whether further action would be required," it added.

The U.N. transitional administrator in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has called for greater efforts to prosecute for war crimes those responsible for the 1999 killings.

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