GENEVA, April 19 (Reuters) - Uganda uses indiscriminate and excessive force in fighting bandits in its unruly northeast and 69 civilians have died in recent months as a result, the United Nation's top human rights official said on Thursday. U.N.High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, accused the Kampala government of ignoring her appeal in November "to respect its obligations to protect the human rights of all individuals".

"The excessive and indiscriminate use of force by the Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UPDF)" between mid-November and March 31 caused the civilian deaths, amongst them women and children, and ten cases of torture were reported, she said in a statement.

Bandits had created a climate of fear and insecurity in the Karamoja region bordering Kenya and had reportedly killed at least seven soldiers, eight civilians and over 288 cattle in the same period in road ambushes and cattle raids, Arbour said.

However, the government should use the civilian justice system to punish them rather than simply turning to its armed forces, she said.

In the past, the government has rejected such criticism as biased.

Across the lawless border, the Kenyan government has been accused of similar abuses in its own disarmament operations against bandits.

The countries rarely coordinate effectively and gunmen from rival tribes slip across the frontier to escape the dragnets.

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