Karim Khan has requested that the International Criminal Court issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged “war crimes” in Gaza.
(JNS)
The International Criminal Court will launch an external investigation into sexual-misconduct accusations against its top prosecutor, Karim Khan, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
The outsourced probe was greenlit this week at a meeting of the ICC’s internal watchdog, the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, according to three sources acquainted with the matter who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
The sources said that it was unclear who would lead the investigation. Options include European law-enforcement officials and a law firm.
The oversight body of the ICC was also mentioned as a possibility, but it might be ruled out for conflict-of-interest concerns over Karim’s spouse, who has previously worked for the agency in Kenya probing cases of sexual harassment.
Neither the head of the ICC’s oversight body, Päivi Kaukoranta, nor Karim’s attorney has thus far responded to requests for comment, according to AP.
The allegations against Khan first emerged in May, around the time he requested to file arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The top prosecutor denied that he tried to force a female assistant into a sexual relationship, with ICC officials close to Khan claiming that the accusations were part of a smear campaign carried out by Israeli intelligence agencies.
Khan said that there was “no truth to suggestions of misconduct” and that he has always supported victims of sexual harassment and abuse in his 30 years of work. He added that, if asked, he would cooperate with any inquiry.
However, reports in the media depicted recurring incidents in which Khan tried to force himself on his aide.
One source told AP that, “This wasn’t a one-time advance or an arm around the shoulder that could be subject to misinterpretation. It was a full-on, repeated pattern of conduct that was carried out over a long period of time.”
AP obtained documents shared with the ICC’s watchdog and held talks with eight individuals familiar with the subject, including sources close to the woman.
The documents claimed that Khan allegedly asked the woman to rest with him on a hotel bed and then “sexually touched her.” Later, he knocked on her hotel door for 10 minutes at 3 a.m.
In October, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) requested “full transparency” from the ICC with regard to the allegations of misconduct by its top prosecutor.
“Public reports indicate that allegations of harassment surfaced in early May—just a few days before Prosecutor Khan applied for arrest warrants against the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Israel,” Graham said in a letter to the ICC last week. “The timing of the allegations is troubling, and only compounds the other strong legal, jurisdictional, and prudential objections I have expressed regarding the Prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants.”
In May, Khan demanded the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes. He lumped the two Israelis together with then-Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif and Hamas politburo head Ismail Haniyeh. (All three were eliminated by Israel over the past year.)
The ICC has no jurisdiction, as Jerusalem is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the court. But in a legalistic sleight of hand, the court claimed jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, even though no such state exists under international law.
Image: Karim Khan, elected on Feb. 12, 2021, as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Credit: Loey Felipe/U.N.
