ICC prosecutor seeking arrest of Israeli leaders faces own inquiry
By Eve Sampson
THE HAGUE—The International Criminal Court (ICC) will commission an independent investigation into its chief prosecutor’s accusations of sexual misconduct, the court announced Monday (11).
The investigation into Karim Khan, the prosecutor best known for seeking arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders for their conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip, will be carried out by an external body “to ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process,” according to a statement by Paivi Kaukoranta, chief of the international assembly that oversees the court.
In his statement Monday, according to The Associated Press, Khan, whose office is responsible for investigating and prosecuting international war crimes and genocide, said he was aware of the investigation and had requested that his two deputy prosecutors take responsibility for the matter internally. “I welcome the opportunity to engage in this process,” he said.
The Daily Mail reported in October that a female colleague had accused Khan of harassment, an allegation he denied. The Guardian later reported that Khan had tried to suppress the accuser’s claims, which he denied.
After being made aware of the allegations, Kaukoranta, president of the assembly representing 125 nations that recognize the court’s authority, said in late October that the court “seeks the consent of any alleged victim of misconduct before proceeding with an investigation” but that after a conversation with Khan’s accuser, the court “was not in a position to proceed.”
Days later, Khan said on social media that the matter had been “closed” by the court’s oversight body without an investigation because no complaint had been made and that the “alleged aggrieved person” had declined the option of an investigation. Khan also said he sought to investigate how the information, which he called “disinformation”, had been made public.
The court, based in The Hague, did not say Monday what had changed in recent weeks to prompt an investigation.
Khan set off a global debate this spring when he sought arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister; Yoav Gallant, then Israel’s defence minister; and three Hamas leaders on charges of crimes against humanity in the war that began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Muhammad Deif, have all since been killed by Israeli forces.
When Khan requested the warrants, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, condemned the action. “We reject the prosecutor’s equivalence of Israel with Hamas. It is shameful,” Blinken said in a statement, adding that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel’s war with Hamas.
Israel, like the United States, has not adopted the statute that created the ICC two decades ago and does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction, so Netanyahu or Gallant do not face arrest in their own country. But the court’s ruling could make international travel difficult for the two men should the warrants be granted.
Though the chief prosecutor recommends arrest warrants, the court’s judges have the ultimate approval authority. A panel of three judges is currently deliberating on the arrest warrants sought by Khan.
-New York Times
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