A new report finds East Timor is still lagging in efforts to prosecute human rights violations that occurred under Indonesian rule and during its turbulent transition to independence.

The report from the United Nations says 301 people indicted for human rights abuses during that period are still at large. "The vast majority of those at large are believed to be in Indonesia," the report says, "and Timor-Leste has never formally requested their extradition."

All 18 suspects who faced trial in Indonesia for East Timor violations were acquitted last year, it notes.

The report urges civil society organizations to continue pressing Indonesia to prosecute those suspected of serious rights violations in East Timor.

On Tuesday the UN continued its condemnation of East Timor's recent decision to release alleged former militia leader Martenus Bere.

"What we know is that the legal means to release someone from prison were not followed," said Louis Gentile, the local representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as quoted by AFP. He added that the UN Security Council might consider bringing Bere before an international tribunal.

Indonesia occupied East Timor from 1974-1999. Pro-Indonesia militias wreaked havoc there after the East Timorese voted for independence in 1999.