The Worldwide Legal Court docket’s (ICC’s) governing physique has confirmed it’s searching for an “exterior probe” into allegations of sexual misconduct by the court docket’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.
“After having consulted the Bureau of the Meeting of States Events (ASP), I’m searching for on behalf of the ASP Presidency an exterior investigation into the issues associated to alleged misconduct by the ICC Prosecutor,” Paivi Kaukoranta, president of the ASP, the physique overseeing the court docket, mentioned in an announcement on Monday.
Calling upon all events to cooperate absolutely, the assertion mentioned the exterior investigation was “being pursued to be able to guarantee a totally impartial, neutral and honest course of”.
Khan, who had beforehand denied the allegations, mentioned on Monday he would press forward along with his duties whereas the investigation is ongoing.
“I welcome the chance to interact on this course of,” Khan, 54, mentioned in an announcement, including that he “might be persevering with all different features as prosecutor”.
Kaukoranta had issued an announcement final month confirming the ASP was wanting into the allegations in opposition to Khan “on the premise of a third-party report”.
On the time, the ASP acknowledged that the ICC’s Impartial Oversight Mechanism (IOM) had been involved with the alleged sufferer however was not able to maneuver ahead with an investigation.
The IOM’s annual report, launched final month, mentioned the incident had been reported to the IOM in early Might.
“The alleged affected particular person declined to pursue a proper criticism with the IOM, together with when it was recommended that any investigation might be referred to an exterior entity,” the report mentioned, including that the person had “refused to explicitly verify or deny to the IOM the factual foundation of what had been reported by the third social gathering”.
‘Assaults and threats’
Khan has been on the helm of the court docket’s prosecutions since 2021, together with battle crimes probes involving Russia and Ukraine in addition to Palestine and Israel.
In Might, Khan requested arrest warrants in opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his then-defence chief and three Hamas leaders who’ve since been killed. The ICC has not but decided on whether or not to grant the warrants.
Khan mentioned the misconduct allegations align with a misinformation marketing campaign in opposition to his workplace.
“This can be a second through which myself and the Worldwide Legal Court docket are topic to a variety of assaults and threats,” Khan mentioned in an announcement final month.
Criticised initially for not performing quick sufficient to forestall atrocities in Gaza, Khan touched off a firestorm when making use of for arrest warrants over the battle.
Netanyahu known as it a “ethical outrage of historic proportions” whereas United States President Joe Biden mentioned it was “outrageous”.
Even earlier than Khan’s utility, senior US Republicans penned a letter threatening to bar him and his household from the US.
Khan additionally sought and obtained an ICC warrant for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which promptly slapped arrest warrants on the prosecutor himself.
The ICC is a everlasting court docket that may prosecute people for battle crimes, crimes in opposition to humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals.
