A panel of diplomats overseeing the International Criminal Court in The Hague has concluded that chief prosecutor Karim Khan should be dismissed over an inappropriate relationship with a junior staff member, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing documents it obtained. The 125 ICC member states are due to vote on Khan’s future on July 24 in New York, and at least 63 votes would be needed to remove him.
Khan is the prosecutor who sought arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes committed by Israel during the Gaza war. Months later, two former employees accused him of sexual misconduct. Khan and people close to him have suggested Israel was behind the allegations, but even critics of the Israeli government, including The Guardian, have reported that the complaints appear credible and that there is no evidence linking Israel to them.
The 27-page document reviewed by Reuters says the panel found Khan committed a serious breach of duty and acted improperly. It quotes the decision of June 8 as saying there was evidence beyond reasonable doubt that he had a sexual relationship with the complainant, that it began in March 2023, and that the power imbalance meant such a relationship could never be appropriate. The document also says the conduct escalated to non-consensual sexual contact in his office, at his private residence, and while she was working.
According to the complaint, the allegations began in March 2023 during a work trip to London and later included incidents in New York, Colombia, Kinshasa, Chad, Paris and The Hague. The woman, a Malaysian lawyer in her 30s who was married and had a child, said Khan also assaulted her in Caracas in April 2024 and then in Bogota the next day, when she said he ignored her protests and sexually assaulted her again. Khan’s lawyers denied the allegations, calling the process unlawful and unfair, and said a judicial review had found the evidence insufficient. Khan was already suspended earlier this month and said in May he was taking voluntary leave, but the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant would remain in force even if he is removed.
