Harassment Claims Against ICC’s Karim Khan Spark Internal Investigation
- Karim Khan KC, the ICC prosecutor, faces allegations of misconduct related to harassment by a female colleague.
- The female colleague opted not to file a formal complaint, which limited the investigation by the Independent Oversight Mechanism.
- The situation has elicited international condemnation, particularly from the U.S. and Israeli officials, reflecting broader concerns about the ICC's integrity.
In October 2024, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan KC, is facing allegations of misconduct related to harassment from a female colleague. The allegations follow Khan's controversial request for arrest warrants against Israeli officials for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Despite these claims, the female colleague opted not to file a formal complaint, resulting in a limited investigation by the ICC's Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM). The situation has drawn international attention and condemnation, particularly from Israel and the United States, with President Joe Biden decrying the implication of equivalence between Israel and Hamas. Khan, who has been in his position since 2021 and is the first British chief prosecutor of the ICC, publicly expressed his sadness regarding the allegations and emphasized the importance of addressing such claims thoroughly. This controversy arrives amidst a backdrop of significant scrutiny of the ICC, with claims of external pressure allegedly from Israeli intelligence aimed at undermining the court’s investigations into potential war crimes in the region.