Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court has assigned 17 judges to preside over the trials of Indonesian soldiers and militiamen accused of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999, a news report said Thursday.

The trials of 19 suspects, including several military commanders, are expected to begin by the middle of January, said Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan, Media Indonesia reported. "I have already agreed on the appointment [of the judges]," said Manan.

Hundreds of people were killed and about 250,000 others fled their homes in a three-week rampage by the Indonesian army and its militia proxies after East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia in August, 1999. The violence ended when international peacekeepers arrived. In response to intense international pressure, Jakarta agreed 10 months ago to set up special human rights court.

Foreign rights activists have called on the UN to establish an international tribunal – similar to the ones for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda – to try those responsible.

Critics allege that Indonesia's powerful military will prevent any of its men from being punished by the county's corrupt legal system.