After the allegations: ICC prosecutor may be forced to leave

 

Agneta Liljeqvist/TT 

 

Published 06:00

          

         ICC's Karim Khan may lose his job as chief prosecutor. Photo: Peter Dejong/AP/TT

Today it will be decided whether chief prosecutor Karim Khan can leave his job at the International Criminal Court (ICC) after allegations of sexual harassment.

Khan, who has already been suspended from his role, denies the allegations.

During an emergency meeting on Friday, the ICC's supervisory body, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), will decide whether Khan should be removed. Last month, the ICC announced that Khan would be suspended from his job pending the supervisory body's decision.

The allegations against the 56-year-old Khan, who has been the court's chief prosecutor since 2021, became known in 2024. According to confidential documents obtained by the American CNN, a younger female colleague, who works as a lawyer at the ICC, testified that she was subjected to repeated sexual advances, including groping and attempted kissing.

Did not consent

In an interview with CNN, the woman says that Khan's behavior escalated from the time she started working for him in 2023. For fear of losing her job and thus her work visa, she did not dare to say no.

- It cannot be consent when you have such a power differential. What I think many people do not understand is that Khan was not only my boss, he was everyone's boss, she says in the CNN interview.

Khan, who denies all allegations, voluntarily stepped aside in May 2025 and took "administrative leave". His lawyers have argued that the charges against him are politically motivated and that they may be part of a plot by foreign actors to discredit him.

In November 2024, the ICC issued an international arrest warrant for, among others, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for suspected war crimes in Gaza.

Since then, the US government has imposed sanctions on Karim Khan and several other judges at the court in The Hague. The sanctions mean that the individuals are banned from entering the US and any assets in the country are frozen.

Damages trust

Last week, the US, which is not affiliated with the ICC, accused the court of posing an “unacceptable threat to US sovereignty” and threatened new sanctions.

The emergency meeting with the supervisory body ASP will take place at the UN headquarters in New York. The decision to remove Khan requires a majority vote, meaning that at least 63 of the 125 member states must vote in favor for it to pass.

ICC staff have warned that trust in the institution could be damaged if Khan returns.

Since the allegations became known, Khan, who is a trained lawyer in his native Britain, has also lost his right to practice law following a decision by the British Bar Standards Board.

Facts

ICC

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a court based in The Hague, Netherlands. It adjudicates cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The ICC began its operations in 2002 and is a complement to the International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ). The ICJ adjudicates in inter-state disputes, and the ICC adjudicates individuals who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity or been complicit in genocide.

The court is activated when an internationally appointed prosecutor has a suspect extradited from a country where the crime was committed.