Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have voted to remove Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from office bringing an end to a two-year investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
- In a secret ballot during a special session of the Assembly of States Parties at the UN headquarters in New York in Friday, 82 of the court’s 125 member nations backed the dismissal of Khan, while 13 voted against his removal and 15 abstained.
The decision to remove the Brit marks the first time in the ICC’s 24-year history that member states have voted to remove a sitting chief prosecutor.
Sexual Misconduct Allegations
The case relates to allegations that Khan, 56, engaged in nonconsensual sexual encounters with a member of his office staff.
A UN-mandated panel of judges had earlier investigated the claims and found Khan had engaged in nonconsensual sexual contact with the staffer, but concluded the evidence did not meet the legal threshold required to sustain a formal finding of misconduct.
In Friday’s vote, member states however overrode that judicial assessment and adopted the findings of the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties, the court’s executive and oversight body, instead.
Khan has consistently denied any wrongdoing with his lawyers arguing the removal proceedings were procedurally flawed and politically tainted, pointing in particular to sanctions imposed on Khan by the Trump administration.
Khan has said he intends to appeal his dismissal before the administrative tribunal of the International Labour Organization, the body that hears employment disputes brought by ICC staff.
Political Undertone
Khan’s supporters have tagged the investigation as a retaliation for his decision in May 2024 to seek arrest warrants against Israel’s president, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, over the war in Gaza.
Following confirmation of the decision, Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, Danny Danon, said Khan was wrong to believe that “by launching a political witch hunt against Israel and issuing a politically motivated arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu, the world would ignore the grave sexual misconduct allegations against him.”
He accused Khan of seeking to “scapegoat Israel” stating: “Those who attempt to prosecute Israel will not escape accountability. They will also lose the trust of the international community.
