ICC chief prosecutor to stay on job amid probe
AMSTERDAM—The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) governing body will launch an external probe into its chief prosecutor Karim Khan over alleged sexual misconduct, it said in a statement on Monday, confirming a previous report by Reuters.
“An external investigation is … being pursued in order to ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process,” the statement said, also calling upon all parties to cooperate fully.
The 54-year-British lawyer allegedly committed misconduct against a member of his own office—claims he firmly denies.
The allegations were reported to the court’s governing body last month. At that time, he asked the court’s own internal oversight body to investigate them.
Under review
Khan said in a statement that he would stay on in his key function of overseeing investigations into alleged war crimes, including in the Israel-Gaza conflict, while any issues relevant to the investigation would be handled by deputy prosecutors.
ICC judges are reviewing Khan’s May request for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, his defense chief and Hamas leaders. Khan said the misconduct allegations aligned with a misinformation campaign against his office.
The ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals.
When Khan was sworn in as chief prosecutor of the ICC, he said the court should be judged by its acts—“the proof of the pudding should be in the eating.”
And by seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and senior Hamas figures, Khan has shown that he is not afraid to take on the world’s most controversial cases.
The application followed an arrest warrant issued last year for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which promptly slapped arrest warrants on Khan himself.
Controversial
But Khan has faced down controversy throughout a career that has included stints defending Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor against allegations of war crimes in Sierra Leone.
Other high-profile clients have included Kenya’s President William Ruto in a crimes-against-humanity case at the ICC that was eventually dropped, and the son of late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, Seif al-Islam.
Asked about “crossing the floor”—working as both prosecutor and defense—Khan told specialist publication OpinioJuris that it helps lawyers stay “grounded.”
It also prevents “corrosive traits such as thinking that defense counsel is the devil incarnate or that as a prosecutor you are doing ‘God’s work,’” he said.
Criticized initially for not acting fast enough to prevent atrocities in Gaza, Khan touched off a firestorm when applying for arrest warrants over the war.
Netanyahu called it a “moral outrage of historic proportions.” For US President Joe Biden, it was “outrageous.”
Even before Khan’s application, senior US Republicans penned a letter threatening to bar him and his family from the United States, ending ominously “you have been warned.”
