Eight former pro-Jakarta militiamen have been jailed in East Timor for crimes against humanity committed in the mayhem surrounding a 1999 UN-backed vote that led to the country's separation from Indonesia.

A special court Thursday convicted the eight of abducting and torturing two independence supporters in Dili in May 1999.

The convictions brought to 72 the number of people convicted in East Timor over the violence, according to a statement received on Monday from the country's serious crime unit.

Among those jailed were Alarico Mesquita and Florindo Moreira, each imprisoned for six years and eight months. Six others received sentences of between five and six years for the same crimes.

Pro-Indonesian militiamen, aided by soldiers, waged a campaign of intimidation and revenge in the months around the August 1999 poll, which saw East Timorese vote overwhelmingly to split from Indonesia. An estimated 1,000 people were killed and whole towns razed.

United Nations-funded prosecutors have indicted 369 people, including former Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto, but 281 of them are in Indonesia, which refuses to hand anyone over for trial.

Of 18 people sentenced by a rights tribunal set up in Jakarta to try those accused of abuses in East Timor, all have since been cleared or remain free pending appeal, prompting criticism from activists and foreign governments.