Nine charged with East Timor 'extermination'

United Nations prosecutors in East Timor today filed the first charges for ‘‘extermination’’ against nine anti-independence militiamen and two Indonesian soldiers for crimes committed after the territory seceded from Indonesia in 1999, officials said.

The suspects are accused of targeting 65 people in the isolated East Timorese enclave of Oecussi and murdering them in two massacres in September 1999, said Mohamed Othman, the UN prosecutor general in East Timor.

‘‘This indictment is significant as it is the first indictment for extermination,’’ he said. ‘‘They segregated young males between 16 and 30 who were educated, tied them up and shot or macheted them to death.’’

Othman said the suspects were believed to be in Indonesia.

More than 1,000 people were murdered and over 80% of the East Timor’s infrastructure destroyed by pro-Jakarta militias and their Indonesian military backers after the territory voted for independence in the UN-sponsored ballot.

The violence ended with the arrival of international peacekeepers. The world body is administering East Timor during its transition to independence next year.

Prior to Thursday’s indictments, UN prosecutors had filed charges against several Indonesian military suspects. However, Jakarta has refused to extradite them.