New York – United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed dissatisfaction over the result of the trials conducted by Indonesia's ad-hoc court for human rights violations in East Timor.

"Many people allegedly involved in the case are living abroad and have yet to be brought to court," Annan said in his report before the UN Security Council in relation with the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) here on Monday.

He called on UN members to insist that people suspected of being involved in the riots that erupted in East Timor following the August 1999 ballot, which resulted in the territory's separation from Indonesia, must not go scot-free without any trial.

Based on data from the UNMISET's serious crimes unit, 279 people allegedly involved in human rights violations following the ballot, are still in East Timor.

The UNMISET's special court has passed 58 verdicts, 55 of which were guilty verdicts and the other 3 were acquittals.

Riots broke out in East Timor after a majority of its people chose to separate from Indonesia in a UN-sponsored ballot. Some 1,000 to 2,000 civilians lost their lives in the months before and the days after the ballot, and some 500,000 people fled to seek refuge.

Annan has proposed the establishment of a UN expert commission to assess the ad-hoc court in Indonesia. Indonesian authorities however rejected the idea.

To date, only 12 people have been tried by the ad-hoc court in Jakarta, 10 of whom were acquitted. Of the 10, 9 were Indonesian military and police personnel.

The court has convicted only two people, both East Timorese – including former East Timor Governor Abilio Soares.