International Criminal Court member states voted Friday to dismiss the courtroom’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, following allegations of sexual misconduct.
The vote to take away Khan comes days after his accuser went public in an interview with NCS’s Christiane Amanpour. Khan has denied all wrongdoing.
It additionally comes amid renewed scrutiny of the struggle crimes courtroom by Washington, which sees the unbiased judicial physique as a menace to the United States’ personal sovereignty.
Assembly of States President Päivi Kaukoranta stated 82 of the courtroom’s 125 member states voted in favor of the prosecutor’s removing, concluding that Khan “committed serious misconduct and a serious breach of duty.”
Khan will problem the choice, his legal professional Tayab Ali stated in a press release after the vote, including that it was “unsupported by any lawful or properly reasoned finding that Mr Khan KC committed misconduct or breached his duties.”
“He has denied the allegations from the outset and continues to do so,” Ali wrote.
He insisted that Khan was not given a good alternative to be heard and that an investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services didn’t discover any misconduct, together with sexual misconduct.
Kaukoranta stated the meeting “fully respected” Khan’s due course of and that the OIOS investigation did discover proof supporting the allegations of misconduct.
The secret poll to oust Khan was held at a gathering on the UN headquarters in New York on Friday afternoon after the allegations in opposition to him first emerged in 2024.
For months, the UN investigated the claims made by his accuser Sarah, who wished to use her first title solely, that he sexually harassed her and repeatedly subjected her to non-consensual sexual acts, together with groping, tried kissing and digital and genital penetration.
Sarah, an ICC junior staffer who labored for Khan, described to Amanpour how his actions left her feeling “humiliated.”
“(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,” she stated.
Exclusive: ICC worker who accused Chief Prosecutor of sexual misconduct speaks publicly. Karim Khan denies the allegations.
Khan, 56, cooperated with the UN investigation, in accordance to its report.
In a earlier interview with journalist Mehdi Hasan, Khan denied having a sexual relationship with the workers member, noting that he advised 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 courtroom’s oversight physique suspended Khan in June pending Friday’s vote by member states.
Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Kravik, whose nation voted to take away Khan, stated earlier than the session that the prosecutor was “unfit” to serve. “The world, and not least the victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, needs an International Criminal Court that functions effectively,” he stated.
Khan and a few of his defenders have claimed the allegations are a part of an effort to harm his status after his pursuit of warrants in opposition to Israeli officers for alleged struggle crimes.
In May 2024, Khan sought arrest warrants for 3 high Hamas leaders in addition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged struggle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity in relation to the October 7, 2023, assaults on Israel and the next struggle in Gaza. Israel, which isn’t a member of the courtroom, has rejected the warrants and welcomed Khan’s removing on Friday, accusing him of conducting a witch hunt.
The timing led to hypothesis – each inside the ICC and outdoors the courtroom – that Sarah’s allegations had been a part of a state-sponsored effort by Israel to discredit Khan. Sarah, although, has vehemently denied claims she labored as a “state actor” for Israel.
The dismissal of Khan comes at a second of intense scrutiny of the ICC, significantly from the US, which additionally welcomed the ouster. The US will not be a member and has imposed sanctions on 11 ICC judges and prosecutors, together with Khan, citing the ICC’s arrest warrants in opposition to Netanyahu and Gallant, in addition to a previous probe into US troops in Afghanistan, which the ICC says was deprioritized however stays open.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated there have been “lunatics and crazies” within the ICC and no US officers would ever stand trial there.
This story has been up to date.