FACTBOX-Key facts about U.N. war crimes tribunal

Dec 12 (Reuters) - The U.N. war crimes tribunal sentenced former Bosnian Serb general Dragomir Milosevic to 33 years imprisonment on Wednesday for the shelling of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, one of the court's toughest sentences.

Following are key facts about the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.



* The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by the United Nations Security Council in May 1993, and all states are obliged to cooperate fully with the tribunal.

* Based in The Hague, it was the first international body for the prosecution of war crimes since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials held in the aftermath of World War Two.

* The tribunal has jurisdiction over individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the territory of the former Yugoslavia after January 1, 1991.

* It has no police force of its own and relies on the former Yugoslav republics, other states or the international peace forces in Bosnia and in Kosovo to make arrests.

* The tribunal may not try suspects in absentia, nor impose the death penalty. The maximum sentence is life imprisonment.

* At present, 45 indicted war criminals are in the detention unit in The Hague. Twenty-six defendants are on trial, 11 accused are at the pre-trial stage and 8 are before the appeals chamber. The court is due to wrap all trials and appeals by 2010.

* The ICTY is best known for the case of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in detention on March 11 2006, just months before a verdict was due in his marathon war crimes trial on charges of genocide, murder and persecution.

* Four Serbs have died in detention in The Hague, two of whom committed suicide, including Milan Babic, who killed himself a week before Milosevic was found dead in his cell.

* Four accused are still at large including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic, both charged with the genocide of Bosnian Muslims.

* Judges have reached 54 guilty verdicts and ordered 9 acquittals. (Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)