ICC votes to dismiss Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan

Members of the International Criminal Court have reportedly voted to remove Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from his office amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Khan has denied the allegations.

https://p.dw.com/p/5HfRh

Karim Khan with the ICC's logo on the wall in the background on February 12, 2024
A majority of the ICC’s 125 members voted to dismiss Karim Khan as chief prosecutor of the global tribunal (FILE: February 12, 2024)Image: Piroschka van de Wouw/REUTERS

International Criminal Court (ICC) members voted on Friday to dismiss Karim Khan as prosecutor ​following allegations ​of sexual misconduct, according to reports in the AP, Reuters and AFP news agencies. 

A British barrister, Khan was accused of sexual misconduct with a female aide, allegations which he has repeatedly denied. He had been temporarily removed from his duties at the ICC in June, following a report by the executive committee of the court’s oversight body that found he had committed “serious misconduct.”

In all, 82 of the court’s ​125 member states voted in favor of Khan’s removal while 13 voted against and 15 countries abstained.

Khan, 56, made headlines in 2024 when he successfully applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war, as well as leading members of the Hamas militant group who have since been killed.

All active ICC warrants will remain in place despite Khan’s dismissal, because only ICC judges have the authority to withdraw warrants.

Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor at Princeton University, wrote on X that the ICC states did “the right thing” by removing Khan. 

More to come on this developing news

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

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