Activists demand Timor tribunal

More than 1,000 people died in the East Timor violence

Human rights groups have called for an international tribunal to punish Indonesian officials implicated in the violence in East Timor in 1999.

The move came after an Indonesian court overturned the convictions of four security officials found guilty of crimes against humanity.

The ruling means no Indonesian security official faces jail for the violence, which left more than 1,000 people dead.

A spokesman for one group urged the UN to intervene, to "credibly prosecute".

"More than four years after this sham court was established, the question remains: when will the international community act?" said John Miller, from The East Timor Action Network (Etan).

"Real pressure and real trials are the only ways to end impunity."

Doubts

The four cleared men include former regional military commander Major General Adam Damiri, who was last year found guilty of "gross human rights violations" and sentenced to three years in jail.

The grounds for the appeal court's decision were not immediately clear.

They had all been found guilty by a special human rights court which Indonesia set up to deflect international criticism of its handling of the violence in East Timor, triggered by the former province's 1999 vote for independence.

Human rights groups doubted the court from the start.

They now point out that of 18 original defendants, only two have now been found guilty - both of which are ethnic Timorese.