1 The Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal indicted 21 Serb suspects for crimes against humanity Monday, paving the way for the first international war crimes trials since World War II.
2 But only one of the suspects is in custody, the Tribunal said, raising doubts as to whether the other 20 will ever be tried.
3 The indictments stem from crimes committed at the Omarska concentration camp in the Prijador region of northwestern Bosnia. All the victims were Croats or Muslims, the Tribunal said in a press release.
4 Those charged were Serbs, but the Tribunal said it was uncertain whether they were natives of Bosnia or Serbia. It also was not known how many of the suspects are in Serbia or the Serb-held sections of Bosnia, where Serb authorities have rejected the U.N. court's jurisdiction.
5 The chief commander of the Omarska camp, Zeljko Meakic, is the only suspect charged with genocide.
6 The indictment alleged his complicity in actions aimed at bringing about the physical destruction of Bosnian Muslims and Croats as a people. He was also held responsible for murders, rapes and torture committed by his subordinates in the camp.
7 Also indicted on a number of charges were his two deputies, Miroslav Kvocka and Dragoljub Prcac, and 16 other functionaries in the notorious camp.
8 The Prijedor region of Bosnia was home to three notorious concentration camps run by Bosnian Serb forces. Omarska was the camp whose emaciated inmates were seen on widely distributed TV news film.
9 Monday's charges, contained in one indictment for the 19 Omarska suspects, include crimes against humanity, violations of the law or customs of war and breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions on Protection of Civilians In Time of War.
10 Also indicted was Dusan Tadic, who is the only one of the 21 suspects now in custody. Tadic was charged with atrocities, including the killing and rape of civilians inside and outside Omarksa.
11 Tadic is being held in Germany and the Tribunal had asked German authorities to hand him over if he were indicted.
12 A law clearing the way for his surrender is expected to pass the German parliament in mid-March.
13 An investigator's statement, based on witness reports, alleges that Tadic forced an inmate to drink motor oil and bite off the testicles of three other prisoners who Tadic and others had beaten senseless.
14 The three prisoners subsequently died.
15 Another suspect, Goran Borovnica, was indicted with Tadic for allegedly killing civilians outside Omarska.
16 The indictments came after a five-month investigation involving 20 investigators, attorneys and analysts who traveled to 12 countries to examine evidence and interview victims.
17 The Tribunal has long maintained that it would begin trials by spring. But until it begins to try suspects, the Tribunal will continue to have an international credibility problem. Unlike the post-World War II tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo, the Yugoslav Tribunal is attempting to try suspects from a conflict that still rages.
18 Monday's indictments coincided with this week's budget discussions for the Tribunal at the United Nations. The U.N. has so far allocated only three months funding, dlrs 7 million, for the tribunal, out of a requested 1995 allocation of dlrs 28 million.
19 The Tribunal has in the past indicted just one suspect and doesn't have any in the 12-cell holding facility it maintains at a Dutch prison in the seaside suburb of Scheveningen.
20 Dragan Nikolic, a Bosnian Serb, is the only suspect previously indicted for war crimes. He's unlikely to be handed over by authorities in Serb-controlled Bosnia where he's thought to be.
21 The Tribunal was established in 1993 by the Security Council.

Those charged were Serbs , but the Tribunal said it was uncertain whether they were natives of Bosnia or Serbia . It also was not known how many of the suspects are in Serbia or the Serb - held sections of Bosnia , where Serb authorities have rejected the U . N . court ' s jurisdiction .
rejected
Are there consequences for Serb authorities refusing to comply with the U.N. court?