The International Criminal Court will launch an external investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against top prosecutor Karim Khan.
advertisementThe external investigation is expected to revive cases that the court’s internal monitoring group closed within five days.
Karim Khan has flatly denied accusations that he tried to force a sexual relationship on a female aide, and the claims come amid an ongoing Israeli information campaign to discredit the court’s indictment of Benjamin Netanyahu on war crimes charges in the Gaza Strip. .
The external investigation was authorized this week by the Conference of the State Parties to the Rome Statute, the court’s oversight body, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
It’s unclear exactly who will conduct the investigation, the people said, noting it would likely include European law enforcement officials and law firms. A UN internal watchdog has also been consulted for such an investigation, but it may be fraught with conflict of interest issues as Karim’s wife, a prominent human rights lawyer, previously worked for Kenya’s sexual harassment investigation body.
Neither Finnish diplomat Päivi Kaukoranta, who currently heads the ICC’s oversight body, nor Khan’s lawyer immediately responded to requests for comment.
An AP investigation found that the allegations were made by two court officials whom the victim had confided in in May, weeks before Khan applied for arrest warrants for war crimes charges against Defense Minister Netanyahu and three Hamas leaders. A panel of three judges is currently reviewing the request.
The Associated Press reported that Khan traveled frequently with her after moving her to his office from another department at the ICC headquarters in The Hague.
According to whistleblower documents seen by The Associated Press, Khan “sexually touched” the woman while traveling abroad after asking her to sleep with him on a hotel bed. Afterwards, he came to her room at 3 a.m. and knocked on the door for 10 minutes.
Other non-consensual behavior mentioned in the document included locking the office door and putting his hands in his pockets. He also reportedly asked her to go on vacation with him on several occasions.
An AP investigation found that the court’s internal watchdog interviewed the woman after two co-workers reported the suspicious behavior, but she declined to file charges because of her distrust of the watchdog. Khan was not questioned and the watchdog’s investigation concluded within five days.
Although the court watchdog could not rule on misconduct, it nonetheless urged Khan in a memo to minimize contact with the women to protect the rights of everyone involved and protect the integrity of the court.
Under Khan’s leadership, the ICC became more active in the fight against crimes against humanity, war crimes and related atrocities. Along the way, a growing list of enemies was added.
Last September, after an investigation into Russian atrocities in Ukraine began, the court suffered a severe cyberattack that left staff unable to work for weeks. It also hired an intern who was later criminally charged in the United States as a Russian spy.
Israel has also been waging its own influence campaign since the ICC recognized Palestine as a member and launched a preliminary investigation into Israel’s actions in 2015.
London’s The Guardian newspaper and several Israeli media outlets reported this summer that Israeli intelligence had been targeting senior ICC staff over the past decade, spying on Khan’s predecessor and showing up at her home with a platter full of cash to discredit her. It was reported that he was carrying an envelope.
advertisementThe external investigation would go further than what Khan suggested following the AP report when he asked the ICC’s internal watchdog to look into the matter and said he would cooperate fully.
