ICC bureau: Prosecutor Karim Khan should be fired for inappropriate sexual relationship

THE HAGUE (Reuters) — Diplomats running the International Criminal Court’s oversight body have decided that chief prosecutor Karim Khan had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior staff member and should be fired, two copies of its decision show, according to a Wednesday report by Reuters.

It is the first time details of the decision on accusations of misconduct brought by a female lawyer in 2024 against Khan, a 56-year-old British barrister, have been reported, including the recommendation that he be dismissed.

The decision by the executive bureau of the ICC’s governing body will inform a vote on his fate by the ICC’s 125-member Assembly of States Parties in New York on July 24. It is unclear which way the vote will go.

Khan has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

“The decision is unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence,” his lawyers said in comments sent to Reuters on Tuesday. They cited a review by judges that found the evidence was insufficient to prove the allegations “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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The bureau set aside the advisory opinion by the three external judges and concluded that it did have enough evidence to make a decision, citing the report of a specialized yearlong UN investigation commissioned by the court.

“The evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the prosecutor… engaged in a sexual relationship with [the victim],” a copy of the June 8 decision reviewed by Reuters said.

The relationship started in March 2023 and “escalated over time… in the context of that power imbalance, a sexual relationship could never be appropriate.”

The 27-page document, shown to Reuters by two independent sources, said Khan committed a serious breach of duty and serious misconduct.

“His behavior escalated over time resulting in him engaging in non-consensual sexual contact with her in his office, at his private residence and whilst on mission,” the document quoted the UN report as having found.

The bureau recommended “removal from office of the elected official, prosecutor Karim Khan,” the document said.

At least 63 of the 125 member states of the world’s criminal court of last resort are required to pass his dismissal.

A former defense attorney who took up the top job at the court five years ago, Khan has been suspended by the ICC and by Britain’s independent regulator for court lawyers, which will consider his future in coming weeks.

A spokesperson for the ICC declined to comment. The bureau, a core group of 21 member states tasked with reviewing the case, did not respond to a request for comment.

Khan’s supporters have suggested that he has become a political target for seeking arrest warrants in 2024 ​for Israeli officials over Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

The court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant in 2024. In the decision, judges wrote there was reason to believe the men had used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and had intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials sharply deny.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has since brought sanctions against Khan and a dozen other staff in relation to the Israeli warrants and investigations into American personnel in Afghanistan. The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations at the court.

The warrants will remain even if Khan is dismissed because they were confirmed by ICC judges.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.