ICC chief prosecutor faces accusations of harassment of women

Paivi Kaukoranta, head of the Association of Member States of the International Criminal Court (ICC), announced on October 24 that the organization’s independent monitoring agency (IOM) had recorded reports related to the allegations. Chief prosecutor Karim Khan harassed a female assistant at the court headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.

Ms. Kaukoranta did not detail the allegations or the identity of this woman. American news agency AP On October 26, citing well-informed sources, two female assistant’s colleagues in May accused Mr. Khan of soliciting and harassing her.

ICC then investigated and discussed with Mr. Khan’s female assistant. The investigation ended after 5 days, the female assistant chose not to file a formal complaint, and Mr. Khan “was not questioned”.

The incident subsided, but after a few months, an anonymous account on X last week revealed some information about the allegations against Mr. Khan. The female assistant refused to comment on the information.

In a statement responding to Ms. Kaukoranta, Mr. Khan denied allegations of harassment of women.

“These accusations are not true. In 30 years of working in many places, no one has ever accused me like that. I support any victim of sexual harassment and encourage them to speak up anywhere. “, Mr. Khan wrote, saying he was ready to provide any information necessary to IOM.

Mr. Khan added that the sexual harassment allegation against him is “clearly related” to the fact that he is asking the ICC panel of judges to consider issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against him. accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Khan, who requested the ICC to issue an arrest warrant in May, was fiercely criticized by Israel’s supporters for this move. The ICC’s chief prosecutor at that time also requested the arrest of senior Hamas officials.

“This is the time when I and the ICC suffered many attacks and threats,” Mr. Khan said. The Israeli government last month filed a complaint against the jurisdiction of the ICC, as well as the legality of his request.

Tel Aviv has not commented on Mr. Khan’s statement.

Prosecutor Karim Khan, 54 years old, is famous for being a “decisive, fearless” person who once issued controversial arrest warrants targeting a number of world leaders. He is married and has two children.

The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, was established in 2002 to investigate the most serious crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICC does not prosecute states but only individuals.