Amnesty International has asked the United Nations Security Council to establish a special East Timor tribunal to prosecute human rights violations during Indonesian rule and to investigate those responsible for the killing of at least 1,200 people in 1999.

Indonesian troops and pro-Indonesia militias went on a rampage following a referendum on independence from Indonesia, held on 30 August 1999. Indonesian forces and and militias allegedly committed numerous crimes, including church massacres, rapes and arbitrary arrests and killings.
 

The United Nations set up special units to investigate the massacres and killings, but hardly any perpetrators were tried or sentenced. Amnesty International also wants the tribunal to investigate abuses committed during Indonesia's 1975 to 1999 occupation of East Timor. According to East Timorese estimates, around 100,000 people were killed by Indonesian soldiers and their East Timorese allies, or died of starvation and disease.
 

The East Timor government is opposed to the establishment of a tribunal, saying it would rather forget the past and focus on its economic ties with Jakarta. The Indonesian government is also reluctant to cooperate with an East Timor tribunal.