The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been accused of retaliating against staff who brought sexual misconduct complaints against him, Reuters has reported citing “five sources briefed on the matter”.
Karim Khan, whose office is investigating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu among other high-profile figures, has denied the new claims as well as the original allegations, which are subject to an ongoing inquiry by United Nations staff.
The new allegations are that Khan retaliated against staff members who either reported the initial allegations – of sexual misconduct towards a female lawyer on his staff – or criticised his handling of the matter, Reuters reported.
All five sources said that Khan, who is British, demoted at least four staff members in his office, the agency said.
In a written statement to Reuters, Khan’s lawyers rejected the allegations of retaliation and reaffirmed their rejected of the misconduct claims. They said Khan, who has been in post since 2021, “looks forward to cooperating fully and transparently with the external investigation.”
“We refer you to what our client has said previously in this regard, including his firm denials. You will appreciate that our client cannot be expected to provide a running commentary on these matters,” law firm Carter-Ruck told the agency.
The original allegations were made in October 2024. At that time, Khan said that his office had been subject to a “wide range of attacks and threats” and that this coincided with his investigations into public figures including Netanyahu. In December, Khan said he would continue working while cooperating with the investigation.
Khan’s office sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu and then-defence minister Yoav Gallant in May 2024, alongside three top Hamas leaders, on allegations of war crimes. These were confirmed by ICC judges in November.
The warrants mean that the Israeli prime minister risks being arrested if he visits any country that has signed the Rome Statute, including Britain and most EU countries but not the US.
On Wednesday, Hungary said it would withdraw from the ICC as Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed Netanyahu for a four-day visit to Budapest.
The ICC also in March 2023 issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Khan leading the prosecutor’s office.
While Russia and Israel are not members of the court, both have denied the charges, with Israel rejecting the ICC's jurisdiction over its actions, particularly in Gaza.
The ICC's investigation of Israeli leaders has sparked significant diplomatic tensions. The Biden administration in the US expressed concerns that the sanctions may undermine the ICC’s ability to carry out its mandate effectively, and criticised the implied equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
The investigation into Khan is being led by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which has so far declined to comment publicly on the details or progress of the investigation.
