Ratko Mladic: The charges

Gen Mladic is being held at Scheveningen prison in The Hague

Prosecutors at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague have charged Ratko Mladic with 11 counts, including genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws of war in Bosnia-Hercegovina between April 1992 and July 1995.

The indictment says Gen Mladic was responsible for persecution of Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) and Bosnian Croat civilians on national, political and religious grounds.

It says Gen Mladic's squads killed more than 7,000 Bosniak men and boys captured in the Srebrenica area in July 1995.

COUNT 1: GENOCIDE

Individually or in concert with others, planned, instigated, ordered, and/or aided and abetted genocide against a part of the Bosniak and/or Bosnian Croat national ethnical and or religious groups.

Participated in a joint criminal enterprise to permanently remove Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from the territories of Bosnia-Hercegovina claimed as Bosnian Serb territory.

Manifested an intent to destroy in part the national ethnical and/or religious groups of Bosniaks and/or Bosnian Croats, with the most extreme manifestations in Bratunac, Foca, Kljuc, Kotor Varos, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Vlasenica and Zvornik.

The killing of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats; the detention of hundreds of thousands under conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.

COUNT 2: GENOCIDE

Participated in a joint criminal enterprise to eliminate the Bosniaks in Srebrenica by killing the men and boys of Srebrenica and forcibly removing the women, young children and some elderly.

COUNT 3: PERSECUTIONS

Committed in concert with others, planned, instigated, ordered, and/or aided and abetted persecutions on political and/or religious grounds against Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats.

Such persecutory acts were committed as part of the object to permanently remove Bosniaks and/or Bosnian Croats.

Persecutions included killings, torture, beatings and rape.

COUNTS 4, 5, 6: EXTERMINATION, MURDER

Committed in concert with others, planned, instigated, ordered, and/or aided and abetted the extermination and murder of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats in the municipalities, the murder of Bosniaks in Srebrenica and murder of members of the civilian population in Sarajevo.

Extermination and murder committed as part of the object to permanently remove Bosniaks and/or Bosnian Croats.

COUNTS 7 & 8: DEPORTATION, INHUMANE ACTS

Individually or in concert with others planned, instigated, ordered, committed and/or aided and abetted the forcible transfer and deportation of Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats or other non-Serbs from the municipalities and Srebrenica.

COUNTS 9 & 10: TERROR, UNLAWFUL ATTACKS

Individually or in concert with others planned, instigated, ordered, committed and/or aided and abetted the crimes of terror and unlawful attacks on civilians.

Participated in a joint criminal enterprise to carry out a campaign of sniping and shelling against the civilian population of Sarajevo.

COUNT 11: TAKING OF HOSTAGES

Planned, instigated, ordered, committed and/or aided and abetted the taking of UN military observers and peacekeepers as hostages.

In order to prevent Nato from conducting air strikes against Bosnian Serb military targets, forces under Gen Mladic's control detained more than 200 UN peacekeepers and military observers and used them as human shields in various strategic locations to deter air strikes.

Threats were issued that further Nato attacks would result in the injury, death, or continued detention of the detainees, some of whom were assaulted before being released in June 1995.