Don Greenlees – More than 250 prisoners in Dili's Becora jail refuse to return to their cells for the past nine days and have eaten little food as part of a protest calling for political reforms, human rights activists said yesterday.

But 12 jailed East Timorese students walked out of Becora's walls yesterday morning, accepting amnesties granted by President B.J. Habibie. They had delayed their departure by a day in a gesture of solidarity over the jail protest.

Human rights activists, who greeted the students on their release, described them as in a weak condition after several days outside in the prison courtyard.

The protest was sparked by a mass food poisoning in the jail on June 2. The director of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, Manuel Abrantes, told The Weekend Australian the authorities had ceased to provide food to the 253 inmates in the courtyard but church groups were being allowed to send in some supplies.

"They are demanding a fact-finding investigation of the (food) poisoning and better treatment inside the prison – an end to harassment, an end to punishment, an end to ill-treatment," Mr Abrantes said. "They are also demanding the release of all East Timorese political prisoners, including Xanana Gusmao."

He said the 12 students, serving sentences ranging from several months to three years for "anti-Indonesian" activities, were given a medical check at the Commission for Justice and Peace and reunited with their families. East Timorese student leaders and activists welcomed their release yesterday but are insisting on freedom for up to 70 others, including two who are serving life sentences in Becora for guerilla activities.

As hopes rise of a solution to the protracted international dispute over the status of East Timor, Australian ambassador John McCarthy arrived on a fact-finding mission in Dili yesterday.

Students from the University of East Timor are planning another demonstration in territory's capital today, in which they will attempt to march on the office of the Jakarta-appointed Governor, Abilio Soares.

The students are calling for a referendum to determine whether the former Portuguese colony, annexed by Indonesia in 1976, should gain independence. Student-lead demonstrations in Dili have attracted as many as 4000 people since Dr Habibie's administration signalled a more conciliatory stance on human rights and the territory's future status.