By Christiane Amanpour, Lauren Kent, Ben Kirby, Claire Calzonetti, NCS
London (NCS) — The International Criminal Court (ICC) is beneath intense scrutiny as member nations put together to vote this month on whether or not to take away Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
For months, the United Nations watchdog has investigated claims made by a feminine ICC worker who labored as a direct assistant to Khan. According to a confidential, leaked copy of a UN investigative report that NCS obtained, she alleged that he sexually harassed her and repeatedly subjected her to non-consensual sexual acts, together with groping, tried kissing and digital and genital penetration. Khan has repeatedly denied these claims.
The allegations against Khan first emerged in 2024. But the girl, Sarah, has not spoken publicly till now. Sarah, a lawyer initially from Malaysia who has labored for the ICC since 2017, stated she by no means needed to be on this place and described feeling “humiliated.” NCS is barely figuring out her by her first identify, at her request.
“I have no other way to describe it but an escalation of attempts,” stated Sarah, who remains to be employed by the ICC, concerning the alleged sexual misconduct — which she says went on for a 12 months after she began working as Khan’s assistant in February 2023.
“(There was) the pawing, the physical nature of it – but it didn’t start that way. Because it was kind of like encroachments on the boundaries slowly – not just physically but emotionally as well,” Sarah instructed NCS’s Christiane Amanpour in a world-exclusive interview.
Sarah described freezing at instances and being afraid to say “no” to a few of Khan’s advances amid fears of dropping her job, her livelihood and her work visa, which permits her to dwell in the Netherlands with her husband and their son.
“There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity. What I think many people don’t understand is that Mr. Khan was not just my boss, he was everyone’s boss,” Sarah stated. “And it cannot be consensual.”
The court’s oversight physique suspended Khan in June whereas the disciplinary proceedings performed out, and now these proceedings have been referred to the 125 member states of the ICC. Representatives from every member state are anticipated to determine on July 24 if his suspension will likely be upheld and what, if any, disciplinary actions will likely be taken.
Khan and a few of his defenders have claimed the allegations against him are a part of an effort to wreck his fame after his pursuit of warrants against Israeli officers for alleged battle crimes.
Asked about the particular allegations by NCS, Khan’s lead counsel Sareta Ashraph stated: “These are serious allegations and they needed to be taken seriously, investigated seriously and undergo a serious judicial review. And that is what has happened.” Ashraph added that “they are allegations which form part of a much larger body of evidence. Mr. Khan has denied and continues to deny them in their entirety – any form of sexual content, relationship, consensual or nonconsensual, with the complainant.”
NCS has obtained a duplicate of the UN oversight workplace’s report, circulated internally in December, which discovered proof displaying a “factual basis” to the claims based mostly on interviews with Sarah, her colleagues and different witnesses. Sarah’s identify is redacted from the report and she or he is referred to easily as “V01” all through the doc.
However, in March, a separate report by the panel of judicial specialists convened by the ICC discovered that there was “insufficient evidence to support a finding of misconduct measured against the standard of proof of beyond reasonable doubt.” It concluded that the factual findings by the UN watchdog “do not establish misconduct or breach of duty.”
Then earlier this month, The New York Times reported that one other inner ICC report discovered that Khan dedicated sexual harassment when he engaged in sexual exercise with a junior member of his employees, referring to Sarah. It additionally famous that he initially didn’t clearly deny a sexual relationship with his subordinate, and that he later sought to dissuade his accuser from pursuing the allegations against him. NCS can’t independently confirm the findings of that report, which has not been publicly launched.
Khan’s lead counsel stated their place is that the UN OIOS report “does not have the same standing as the panel of judges,” including “it does not apply a standard of proof.” She says the UN investigation’s function was to assemble the information, and in doing that “it presented a number of conflicting narratives.”
Allegations of escalating non-consensual acts
In the interview with NCS, Sarah described early interactions with Khan that made her uncomfortable. She alleges that the habits finally escalated into extra aggressive actions, like coming to her resort room late at evening and, on one event, pushing to hitch her for a “nap” and groping her down her leggings whereas she says she pretended to be asleep.
In a earlier interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan, Khan denied that he had any form of relationship with the employees member, noting that he instructed UN investigators in his first feedback to them that he “completely denied engaging in any harassment, abuse of authority, inappropriate behavior whatsoever,” additionally highlighting that he cooperated with the investigation.
The UN report, nevertheless, states that “Khan would not confirm whether he had had a sexual relationship with V01 (Sarah), even one that was welcomed by her, instead stating that he never engaged in any prohibited conduct in relation to (Sarah) that ‘could be construed as inappropriate, unwelcome or abusive.’”
Khan additionally instructed the UN investigators that his tight safety preparations on abroad journeys would have made makes an attempt to depart his room with out being seen “virtually impossible.”
Sarah instructed NCS that the safety element didn’t imply his actions had been restricted.
The UN watchdog’s report detailed additional allegations of sexual touching at Khan’s house, in his workplace and on abroad enterprise journeys – all of which Sarah stated had been non-consensual.
According to the UN report, Sarah instructed investigators that Khan would additionally typically examine if she was uncomfortable after such incidents. When requested about this by NCS, she stated this did typically occur, “but if you know Mr. Khan, he’s not expecting a response from you – Mr. Khan does what he wants.”
Khan alleged in the UN report that Sarah would typically insist on occurring abroad missions, a characterization that one other ICC employees member agreed with. But the employees member famous that it was a part of Sarah’s job to help Khan throughout missions. Another employees member interviewed for the report famous that Sarah appeared to point out indicators of tension concerning work journey as time went on.
Meanwhile, Sarah instructed NCS she was attempting to hold on doing her job and keep away from scrutiny that would harm her future profession prospects. At one level, Sarah stated she instructed Khan that if the behaviors continued, she feared she would hurt herself.
Khan’s lead counsel Ashraph instructed NCS that “with regard to that allegation, no medical evidence was presented to (UN) OIOS. Mr. Khan does not recollect ever being informed of that.”
The UN report notes that she was finally positioned on so-called “suicide watch,” citing her husband.
After a number of colleagues expressed concern about her wellbeing, Sarah instructed them about the alleged inappropriate sexual conduct. In the months that adopted, Sarah described going through common strain by Khan and one other ICC staffer who labored for him to put in writing a letter saying she had made up the allegations or had no criticism.
Khan denied to the UN investigators that he inspired her to put in writing such a letter or asking his adviser to take action.
Speculation of Israeli effort to discredit Khan
The allegations against Khan got here at a second of intense scrutiny of the ICC.
Months earlier than the preliminary accusations had been reported in worldwide media, Khan introduced in an unique interview with NCS’s Amanpour that the ICC was seeking arrest warrants for prime Hamas leaders in addition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on costs of battle crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the October 7, 2023, assaults on Israel and the subsequent battle in Gaza.
The timing led to hypothesis – each inside the ICC and outdoors the court – that Sarah’s allegations had been a part of a state-sponsored effort by Israel to discredit Khan. The UN oversight report famous that Khan steered to investigators that the complaints against him had been a part of a broader push to wreck his fame, citing his pursuit of arrest warrants against Israel.
Sarah, although, has vehemently denied all allegations of working as a “state actor” for Israel. The UN watchdog report discovered that “multiple credible witnesses dismissed the notion that she was a spy,” with one ICC worker telling investigators that the concept she was an Israeli agent was “a load of bull.”
“I think many parties have for their own agenda conflated the two things,” Sarah instructed NCS. “That conflation has only helped to distract and deflect from the validity of that complaint.”
She additionally famous that she underwent the highest stage of safety clearances to work for the court, beneath each Khan and former Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
“If ever there was even a hint of suspicion that I was a state agent of any kind, I would have been dismissed,” she stated.
Sarah additionally stated that a part of her motivation for talking publicly was as a result of her anonymity was permitting different events to craft a story about her to swimsuit their very own pursuits. When requested about her view of the validity of the utility for arrest warrants against Israeli officers, she stated she couldn’t discuss particular court investigations however added that “I fully and entirely support the court’s investigations.”
Second girl accuses Khan of sexual misconduct
The UN oversight report additionally detailed allegations of a second court worker, “Patricia,” who labored as an unpaid intern for Khan’s group in 2009 and agreed to talk to NCS’s Christiane Amanpour on the situation that her identify is modified for anonymity. After the preliminary allegations had been reported in the media, “Patricia” stated she additionally got here ahead to talk to the UN investigation about her personal experiences working for Khan in her 20s.
She described feeling uncomfortable that Khan had requested his group to work from his house, saying that “without fail, every time I was there, it was a constant onslaught of him coming onto me, groping me, grabbing me, kissing my face, touching my hair … trying to get me to engage in intimate activity with him, which I constantly had to bat off.”
She additionally described an incident through which Khan “stood behind me, groping my breasts” whereas she was sitting at her desk. “On that occasion, I felt that I was frozen and was unable to protest or stop him,” she instructed NCS.
Khan’s lead counsel instructed NCS on Thursday: “We deny these allegations in their entirety, but they’re also not new allegations. They’re allegations which have formed part of the evidential record and which were seen alongside the evidence of over 30 other witnesses as well as the evidence of Mr. Khan himself … the complete evidential picture paints a far different, far different picture.”
Meanwhile, “Patricia” instructed NCS that she felt compelled to return ahead after studying different media protection of the allegations against Khan.
“At the time it happened to me, I felt very isolated, and as many people do under these circumstances, I felt that perhaps I was the only person who had experienced these behaviors,” she instructed NCS.
In the years since she was a court intern, “he has only accumulated more and more power, he has only grown more and more emboldened.”
Winding street to potential disciplinary motion
Nearly two years have handed since the preliminary allegations had been reported in worldwide media. The investigation course of has been criticized – by Khan and others – for being lengthy and convoluted.
The ICC’s oversight physique stated in a press release that its choice to droop Khan “was based on the report of an investigation undertaken by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the underlying evidence, the advice of an ad hoc panel of judicial experts, and written submissions.”
Khan and his legal professionals have claimed that the whole investigative course of has been unfair, with new our bodies and guidelines created for this case. Khan has argued that solely the court’s Independent Oversight Mechanism was approved to research complaints against ICC officers, and he steered that the UN’s OIOS watchdog investigation be concluded resulting from procedural irregularities.
As representatives of all ICC member states put together to make a ultimate choice on whether or not to take away Khan subsequent week, Sarah instructed NCS that she believes coming ahead with allegations has broken her personal fame both method and made her future unsure.
She instructed NCS she feels “incredibly nervous, humiliated. I expect a lot of backlash once this goes public. It’s not an easy thing to do,” noting how “I have used up all my savings – if anything, I have completely and utterly damaged my future career prospects.” But, she stated, “I also think it’s very important.”
“I know that my story does not change based on the outcome of the vote,” Sarah stated, including that she strongly believes in the work she and her colleagues do in The Hague.
“I work at the court because I believe in what the court does … which is also the reason why I didn’t come forward for so long. Because I was so scared and so worried that doing so would affect the court’s work,” she stated.
“Long before I joined the court, there has always been pressures on the court, even during Prosecutor Bensouda’s time,” Sarah stated. “And there will always be criticisms. But I don’t believe that the legitimacy of the court should stand on the reputation of any one man.”
NCS’s Nadia Lee and Zoe Cantley contributed to this report.
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