The United Nations has decided, following an investigation reported by Reuters, to move toward firing Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague who sought arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. The ICC’s management committee found that Khan had been involved in an improper relationship and recommended removing him from office.
According to the official document, the UN inquiry lasted about a year and concluded that the evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Khan engaged in prohibited conduct and a serious breach of duty while in office. The committee’s recommendation is based on those findings and now goes to the Assembly of States Parties, which is set to meet in New York on July 24.
A dismissal will require support from at least 63 of the ICC’s 125 member states. Khan’s lawyers rejected the allegations outright, saying the decision was unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence. They noted that three external judges had previously found the evidence insufficient to prove the claims beyond reasonable doubt, but the committee ignored that view.
Khan is currently suspended from his ICC post and also by Britain’s independent legal regulator, while his deputies have been running the office since May. Supporters say he is being politically targeted because of the arrest warrants he pursued against Israeli officials, but legal experts say those warrants were approved by judges and would remain valid even if Khan is removed.
