The International War Crimes Tribunal currently taking place in the Hague references many names, words and places that are unfamiliar to most Americans. This glossary is a guide to the most important terms you're likely to come across while watching the trial. Court TV anchor Ray Brown originally wrote it as a guide for our on-air anchors and reporters. We've expanded it here so we can share it with you.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ACCUSED
A person against whom an indictment has been submitted, according to tribunal's rules of procedure and evidence.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING (AT OMARSKA)
Where, allegedly, interrogations took place and most of the women were confined.

ALBRIGHT, MADELEINE
U.S. United Nations ambassador. On August 9, 1995, Albright showed the United Nations Security Council photos of mass graves at Srbrenica, a United Nations safe area. This confirmed the July massacre and mass burial at that site but also raised questions concerning the failure of U.S. intelligence to share such information earlier.

ARBOUR, LOUISE
A member of Ontario's Court of Appeal, Arbour is scheduled to replace Richard Goldstone as prosecutor of the international war crimes tribunal in October 1996.

BABIC, GORAN
An alibi witness for defendant Dusko Tadic.

BANJA LUCA
A town seized by Ratko Mladic in April 1992 as a staging area for Bosnian Serbs in northern Bosnia. It has long served as a tank training facility and major military stronghold for the JNA.

BASSIOUNI, CHERIF
Professor of Law at DePaul University. Member and later Chairman of United Nations Commission Of Experts Established Pursuant To Security Council Resolution 780 (1992), charged with collecting war crimes evidence in the former Yugoslavia.

BELGRADE
Capital of Serbia and of the former Yugoslavia.

BLEWITT, GRAHAM
A tribunal prosecutor, former director of the Nazi war crimes investigation unit of the Australian equivalent of the FBI. Blewitt has been with the tribunal since its inception.

BOBAN, MATE
Leader of the Bosnian Croats. Boban was allegedly hand-picked by President Tudjman of Croatia to replace Stjepjan Kjuic to head the HDZ in February 1992. Kjuic is said to have had more HDZ support but was unpopular in Croatia because he was an advocate for an independent Bosnia-Herzegovina. Boban met Karadzic in Gratz, Austria in May 1992 to orchestrate the division of Bosnia between the Serbs and Croats.

BOROVNICA, GORAN
Defendant Dusko Tadic's co-defendant, who has never been in custody in the Hague and will not be on trial with him. He is mentioned in only one section of the indictment.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
A republic of the former Yugoslavia and a historic Balkan entity. Of the various republics, only Bosnia-Herzegovina has a history of multi-ethnic cooperation. It has been decimated by the "ethnic cleansing" of the establishment of the Serb Republic at Pale and has been a Croatian enclave.

CAMP LISA
First Armored Division Camp (IFOR). It is 13 miles from Hans Pjesak, which houses "fugitive" Ratko Mladic, indicted by the tribunal prosecutor for genocide.

CASSESE, ANTONIO
Italian, president of the tribunal and head of the five-judge Appeals Chambers. The American Lawyer magazine has described him as "an international law professor at the University of Florence who has written extensively on war crimes."

COMPETENCE RATIONE MATERIAE
This term refers to the tribunal's subject matter jurisdiction, which stems from customary law as well as conventional law.

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
The foundation for crimes against humanity is found in the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Judgment. The allegations against defendant Dusko Tadic would seem to fall within eight of the nine subsections defining crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture and rape. The defendant Dusko Tadic is charged with crimes against humanity, among other things.

CROATIA
A republic of the former Yugoslavia and a historic Balkan entity. Its national religion has been Roman Catholicism since the time of the Holy Roman Empire. It has demonstrated territorial designs on Bosnia-Herzegovina during the current conflict. However, it has also been intermittently allied with the Bosnian Muslims in resistance to Serbian claims.

DAYTON PEACE ACCORD
Officially the "General Framework Agreement For Peace In Bosnia and Herzegovina," this was originally signed in Dayton on November 21, 1995 by Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (for itself and Republika Srpska). It was witnessed by France, Germany, the Russian Federation, Britain, the U.S. and the European Union. It recognizes the sovereignty of The Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the existence of its two "entities," the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Republika Srspka. It recognizes amnesty for all returning refugees except those charged with "common crime unrelated to the conflict" and those indicted by the tribunal prosecutor. Other relevant provisions: It said that no person may hold office in Bosnia-Herzegovina who is not in compliance with directives of the tribunal; it established a United Nations International Police Task Force (ITPF) to report human rights violations to the tribunal; and it established IFOR, NATO's peacekeeping force in the area.

DEFERRAL
Rules 8 and 10 provide that the prosecutor may request that a state defer prosecution of a person who may have committed violations under the tribunal's jurisdiction so that such a person may be tried at the Hague. Such a request was in fact made to Germany, which had charged defendant Dusko Tadic with genocide.

DULE
Alias for defendant Dusko Tadic, listed in the indictment.

ETHNIC CLEANSING
According to a United Nations report, ethnic cleansing is defined as "rendering an area ethnically homogenous by using force or intimidation to remove from a given area persons from another ethnic or religious group."

"F"
Allegedly a victim of crimes against humanity, grave breaches and violations of the customs of war. The prosecution moved on May 3, 1996 -- four days before trial -- to dismiss these charges concerning "F". It is assumed that she was reluctant to testify.

"G"
A prisoner at Omarska who was allegedly beaten and sexually assaulted by defendant Dusko Tadic and other Serbs in June and July 1992. The address, whereabouts and other identifying information about this witness shall not be disclosed. Additionally, this witness may testify by one-way closed circuit television in closed session.

GARAGE
A building at Omarska, also known as the hangar.

GENOCIDE
The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide defines genocide as "acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group." (Note that defendant Dusko Tadic is not charged with genocide.) The indictment of July 25, 1995 charges Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic with genocide against Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims.

GOLDSTONE, RICHARD
Chief tribunal prosecutor and former chair of the Goldstone Commission, which looked into the causes of South African violence.

GRAVE BREACHES
The definition of grave breaches is drawn from the Geneva Convention of 1949. It prohibits a wide range of violent conduct, including but not limited to killing, torture or inhuman treatment, and willfully causing great suffering. Defendant Dusko Tadic is charged, among other things, with grave breaches.

GUTMAN, ROY
The first journalist to visit Serbian concentration camp Omarska. Author of a series of articles in New York daily newspaper Newsday in August 1992 describing the Serbian camps; the series earned him a Pulitzer prize. It was later published as a book, Eyewitness to Genocide.

"H"
A prisoner at Omarska who was allegedly beaten and sexually assaulted by defendant Dusko Tadic and other Serbs in June and July 1992. The address, whereabouts and other identifying information about this witness shall not be disclosed. Additionally, this witness may testify by one-way closed circuit television in closed session.

HANGAR
A building at Omarska, also known as the garage.

HANS PJESAK
A bunker complex originally built for Tito, founder of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is currently the dwelling of fugitive Ratko Mladic and is 13 miles from the 1st Armored Division's Camp Lisa.

HDZ
A center-right nationalist party led by Franjo Tudjman which first came to power in Zagreb in April 1990. In February 1992 Stjsepan Kljuic, an advocate of a unified Bosnia, was ousted by a minority of the Bosnia wing of the party in favor of Tudjman's candidate, Herzegovinian Mate Boban.

"I"
From deliberately cryptic references in prosecution motions, it appears that "I" witnessed events at Omarska, possibly including the sexual assault of "F" and mistreatment of "G". The address, whereabouts, and other identifying information about this witness shall not be disclosed. Additionally, this witness may testify by one-way closed circuit television in closed session.

ICTY
See INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL.

IFOR
NATO'S implementation force, created under the Dayton Peace Accords. Commanded by Admiral Leighton W. Smith, Jr., this unit has been accused of avoiding taking charged persons like Karadzic and Mladic into custody.

IPTF
A United Nations International Police Task Force, established pursuant to the Dayton Accords. Its duties will include reporting human rights violations to the tribunal.

INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL
Officially, the international tribunal for the prosecution of persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 (ICTY). The tribunal was established pursuant to United Nations Resolution 808. It consists of judicial chambers, a prosecutor and a registry.

IZETBEGOVIC, ALIJA
Leader of Party for Democratic Action (SDA, Muslim), founded in 1990, and the first president of the Collective Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1970 he wrote a volume called The Islamic Declaration about the relationship of politics to Islam. Although it is a general treatise which does not mention Bosnia, it was used as evidence in his 1983 trial for "counterrevolutionary acts derived from Muslim nationalism." In 1988 he was released early from his 11-year sentence. He has generally been viewed as an advocate for an ethnically mixed Bosnia.

"J"
A witness to the June 1992 events at Sivci and Jaskici. The address, whereabouts, and other identifying information about this witness shall not be disclosed. Additionally, this witness may testify in closed session.

JASKICI
An area southeast of Prijedor where armed Serbs, including defendant Dusko Tadic, beat and shot a group of Bosnian Muslims in June 1992.

JNA
The Yugoslav army. The JNA was originally loyal to the former Yugoslavia but increasingly became the weapon of Serbia as the conflict evolved.

"K"
A witness to the June 1992 events at Sivci and Jaskici. The address, whereabouts, and other identifying information about this witness shall not be disclosed. Additionally, this witness may testify in closed session.

KARADZIC, RADOVAN
The political leader of the Bosnian Serbs. He is the head of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and president of the Serb Republic, with headquarters at Pale, just outside Sarajevo. On July 25, 1995 he was indicted by the tribunal along with Ratko Mladic and was charged with, among other things, genocide against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats. Before the war he was a psychiatrist at Kosevo Hospital in Sarajevo and, like many current Serb nationalist leaders, was reputed to have Muslim friends. The press has reported that for political reasons he has been permitted to pass through both IFOR and UNPROFOR roadblocks since his indictment without being apprehended. Karadzic also fancies himself a poet.

KERATERM
Along with Omarska and Trnopolje, one of three internment camps in the Prijedor region used by Serbs to commit atrocities against Muslims and Croats. It previously had been a ceramics factory.

KNEZEVIC, DUDAN
The original indictment claimed that in June or July 1992, defendant Dusko Tadic and Knezevic allegedly forced prisoners to "drink water like animals from puddles on the ground" and beat them. The amended indictment omits Knezevic's name.

KOSOVO
An autonomous region of the former Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milosevic's support of the Serbian minority here against the Albnian majority in 1987 is viewed by many as the beginning of the end for the former Yugoslavia. It is an area with deep significance for the Serbs: In 1389 the Ottoman Turks ended the reign of medieval Serbia here by beheading Prince Lazar.

KOZARAC
Home of defendant Dusko Tadic. Before the war Kozarac was a largely Muslim town of about 25,000. The prosecutor alleges that in May 1992 Serb forces seized Bosnian Muslim and Croat people around Kozarac and forced them to march to Kozarac for transfer to prison camps.

KRAJINA
The traditional name for the area that extends along the border of and into Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

LCY
League of Communists of Yugoslavia.

"M"
An alibi witness for defendant Dusko Tadic. Witness is said by the defense to be living at Omarska.

MACEDONIA
A republic of the former Yugoslavia.

MARTIC, MILAN
President of the Croatian Serb Administration at Knin. He was indicted in July 1995 for his part in ordering the shelling of Zagreb.

McDONALD, GABRIELLE KIRK
Former federal district court judge from Houston, Texas, and presiding judge of the Tadic trial chamber.

MILOSEVIC, SLOBODAN
President of Serbia and, in the view of many, the man who ignited the current Balkan conflagration. While the former Yugoslavia was still a functioning entity in 1987, he traveled to Kosovo, ostensibly to reduce tensions between the Albnians and the Serb minority. While there he began to fan the flames of Serb nationalism. (Ironically, Milosevic had declined to endorse a memorandum drafted in the mid-80's by the Serb Academy of Arts and Science, which articulated many Serb grievances.)

Milosevic was a prime moving force behind the split with Croatia and Slovenia at the time of the Extraordinary Congress in 1990. He made significant efforts to centralize the power of the JNA and the state apparatus of former Yugoslavian Belgrade. He has been accused of being the eminence gris behind the Bosnian Serbs, and there is reason to believe that Bosnia is pursuing a charge of genocide against the Belgrade regime in the World Court for the purpose of putting pressure on the tribunal to indict Milosevic. In March 1991 Tudjman and Milosevic met and agreed upon a plan for the partition of Bosnia.

MLADIC, RATKO
Appointed commander of the JNA in May 1992. For most of the current conflict he has commanded all Bosnian Serb military forces. The indictment of July 25, 1995 charges Mladic and Karadzic with genocide against Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims. Mladic is a notorious beneficiary of IFOR's fear of "mission creep." As of April 1996 he was staying at Hans Pjesak, a bunker complex built for Yugoslav republic founder Tito, which is 13 miles from the First Armored Division's Camp Lisa. Mladic was a career officer in the JNA and was not known as a nationalist before the recent conflicts, although it is said that both of his parents were slain by Croatian fascists during World War II.

MONTENEGRO
A republic of the former Yugoslavia, currently dominated by Serbian allies of Slobodan Milosevic.

"N"
An alibi witness for defendant Dusko Tadic. The defense says this witness is living at Priejedor.

NIKOLIK, DRAGAN
In September 1994 this Serbian camp commandant became the first person charged with international war crimes since Nuremberg. He was indicted in connection with his activities at Susica, which housed Muslims from the Vlasenica area from June - September 1992. A former guard at the facility, Pero Popovic, appears to be the principal witness against Nikolik.

NON-BIS-IN-DEM
Literally, "not twice for the same." The statute of the tribunal and its rules of procedure and evidence attempt to address our concept of double jeopardy: It prohibits a second trial before a national tribunal and bars the tribunal from trying anyone previously convicted before a national tribunal, provided that the prior charge was not an "ordinary crime" and that the tribunal was "impartial."

NULLUM CRIMEN SINE LEGE
The great "principle of legality" pursuant to which there can be no crime without law. This is addressed in the Statute of the Tribunal.

"O"
An alibi witness for defendant Dusko Tadic. The defense says this witness is living at Priejedor.

OMARSKA
A concentration camp established by the Serbs in the Prijedor region.

PALE
A suburb of Sarajevo converted by Karadzic and Mladic into the wartime capital of the Bosnian Serb republic.

PERRY, WILLIAM
The U.S. defense secretary.

PETROVIC, NIKOLA
An alibi witness for defendant Dusko Tadic.

PISTA
At Omarska, a cement courtyard area.

POPOVICH, PERO
The principal witness against Serbian camp commandant Dragan Nikolic, the first person charged with international war crimes since Nuremberg.

PRIJEDOR
Before the war, the second largest city in northern Bosnia. It had slightly more Muslims than Serbs. Most of the Muslim males were shipped to death camps.

PROPRIO MOTU
More than just another Latin phrase, this way of saying "on one's own motion" as it appears in Rule 54 gives the court the ability to issue warrants for the prosecution, defense, or itself "as may be necessary for the purpose of an investigation or for the preparation or conduct of the trial." It reflects the reality of European civil law systems, in which the judge is frequently an active participant with the prosecutor.

RATIONE PERSONAE
Personal jurisdiction. This is addressed in article 6 of the statute of the tribunal.

RED HOUSE
A building at Omarska.

REPUBLIKA SRPSKA
See SERB REPUBLIC.

ROOM 2
A room in the Keraterm camp where defendant Dusko Tadic allegedly beat detainees and looted their personal property and valuables.

SARAJEVO
Capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, frequently shelled by Serbs during the current conflict.

SDA
The Bosnian Muslim Party of Democratic Action, founded in May 1990 by Alija Izbetgovic.

SDS
The Serbian democratic party in Bosnia. See SERBIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

SEPARACIJA BUILDING
The location of defendant Dusko Tadic's alleged violations against "F".

SERB REPUBLIC
Also called Republika Srpska. This is the name given to territories within Bosnia seized by the Bosnian Serbs. Pale, a suburb of Sarajevo, is its wartime capital. Its existence as one of the entities which comprise the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina was acknowledged at Dayton. Radovan Karadzic is its president.

SERBIA
A republic of the former Yugoslavia. Serbia is also, however, a name given to various kingdoms, autonomous regions and sections of empires, including the Byzantine, Ottoman and Hapsburg. Serbia is strongly identified with the Eastern Orthodox Church. The current incarnation of the age-old quest for Greater Serbia fueled the current carnage in the Balkans.

SERBIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SDS)
The party of the Bosnian Serbs, headed by Karadzic and founded in July 1990.

SHATTUCK, JOHN
U.S. assistant secretary of state for human rights, democracy and labor.

SIVAK, SEJAD
Allegedly beaten in July 1992 by defendant Dusko Tadic at the White House at Omarska. Sivak was found dead the next day.

SIVCI
An area southeast of Prijedor where armed Serbs, including defendant Dusko Tadic, beat and shot a group of Bosnian Muslims in June 1992.

SLOVENIA
A republic of the former Yugoslavia. It was the first republic to break away after the Extraordinary Congress of 1990.

SMITH, LEIGHTON W. JR., ADMIRAL
Commander of IFOR, NATO's implementation force in Bosnia.

SRBRENICA
A Muslim town and United Nations "safe area" overrun by Bosnian Serbs in July 1995.

SRPSKA
See SERB REPUBLIC.

STEPHEN, SIR NINIAN
Former member of the Australian High Court and British Privy Council, Governor-General of Australia, and member of the Tadic trial chamber. Stephen authored an interesting dissent in response to the prosecutor's motion for the protection of witnesses and victims.

SUSICA
The camp where Serbian commandant Dragan Nikolic allegedly abused Muslim prisoners from the Vlasenica area from June - September 1992.

SUSPECT
A person concerning whom the prosecutor possesses reliable information which tends to show that he may have committed a crime over which the tribunal has jurisdiction. Suspects have rights to counsel and to remain silent as well as a Miranda-type prophylactic protection. The prosecutor is also required to audiotape or videotape questioning of suspects. An indigent accused or suspect will have counsel assigned.

TADIC, DUSKO
A Serb, Dusko Tadic is the first defendant to be tried before the tribunal. He was indicted on February 13, 1995 along with Goran Borovnica. He is charged with grave breaches, violations of the laws and customs of war, and crimes against humanity. The allegations stem from his alleged activities at Omarska camp and in the Priejdor district in northeastern Bosnia from May - July 1992.

TITO, JOSIP BROZ (1892-1980)
Born in Croatia of mixed Slovenian and Croatian ancestry, Tito was decorated, wounded, then captured by the Russians during World War I. He joined the Communist Party in the 1920s. During World War II he led partisans against the Axis powers as well as other Balkan forces (Chetniks, Ustasi, etc.) and after the war founded the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He effectively stifled Yugoslavia's ethnic rivalries with a firm hand (and the somewhat ironic slogan "Brotherhood and Unity") while remaining non-aligned in world politics.

TRIBUNAL
Officially, the international tribunal for the prosecution of persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 (ICTY). The tribunal was established pursuant to United Nations Resolution 808. It consists of judicial chambers, a prosecutor and a registry. It is the first body established for such purposes since Nuremberg.

TRNOPOLJE
With Omarska and Keraterm, one of the three primary internment camps used by the Serbs during their ethnic cleansing campaign in the Prijedor region. Trnopolje was regarded as the least odious of the three, and those few who were released from the other two camps sometimes made their way here.

TUDJMAN, FRANJO
A Croatian nationalist, head of the HDZ, and since April 1990 President of Croatia. Since coming to power he has adopted for Croatia many emblems and symbols of the World War II Croatian fascists. Tudjman is a former general and high-ranking Communist. In March 1991 Tudjman and Milosevic met and agreed upon a plan for the partition of Bosnia.

UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION 808
Adopted February 22, 1993, this provides for the establishment of the international tribunal.

UNPROFOR
United Nations Protection Force, also known as peacekeepers.

VERCEK, VESNA
An alibi witness for defendant Dusko Tadic.

VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR
This definition is drawn from the customary and conventional law as informed by the Hague Convention of 1907, the Geneva Convention of 1949, and the Nuremberg Tribunal. It generally prohibits the use of force "not justified by military necessity" against villages, dwellings, etc. The defendant Dusko Tadic is charged with this, among other things.

VOJVODINO
An autonomous region of the former Yugoslavia.

VORAH, LAL CHAND
A Malaysian high court judge and member of the Tadic trial chamber.

WHITE HOUSE
A small building at concentration camp Omarska where severe beatings allegedly took place.

WLADIMIROFF, WILLIAM
A Dutch lawyer from the firm of Wladimiroff & Spong. An experienced white-collar criminal lawyer who receives $200 per day.

YUGOSLAVIA
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (the former Yugoslavia) was a political entity formed with six Republics and two autonomous regions by Tito in 1944. Its effective demise began with the 14th Extraordinary Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) in 1990, when Slovenia and Croatia began their secession activities in response to Serbian nationalist activities in Kosovo led by Slobodan Milosevic. In April 1992 the European Community and U.S. recognized Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Serbs began the offensive which led to defendant Dusko Tadic's activities. At the same time Serbia and Montenegro formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, maintaining control of the JNA and most of the revenues of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

ZAGREB
Capital of Croatia, allegedly shelled by order of Milan Martic.

ZVORNIK
A town in northeastern Bosnia, attacked by Serbs in April 1992.