New Allegations Against ICC Chief Prosecutor, 'Israeli Smear Campaign'

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan has been accused of retaliating against staffers who brought misconduct complaints against him. According to reports, Khan allegedly demoted four staffers who reported the initial allegations or criticized his handling of the matter.

Last October, Khan was accused of misconduct towards a female aide on his staff following a whistleblower report. The alleged victim refused to confirm or deny the allegations at the time and did not file a formal complaint. Khan Himself has denied all of the allegations.

While an internal investigation was not launched due to the lack of formal complaints from an alleged victim, an external investigation was launched the following month.

After the allegations were reported, Khan would claim that he was the victim of a smear campaign, claiming that in the months prior he as well as his wife and child were targeted. 

The allegations came on the heels of an investigation into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed in Gaza. 

In April of 2024, Khan would be sent a letter by 12 U.S. Senators threatening himself and other UN officials and their families should he decide to request arrest warrants against Israeli leaders. In February, the Trump Administration banned his entry into the U.S. and froze his assets in the country.

In May, Khan announced he would file requests for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders. After the request was filed Khan would claim he was contacted by a senior Western leader who told him the court was only for Africans and Slavs.The arrest warrants would be formally issued in November.

At the same time of the requests for arrest warrants, The British outlet, The Guardian, would report that in 2021, Yossi Cohen, former head of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, threatened the former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in a series of meetings to abandon war crimes investigations into the 2014 war in Gaza.