ICC chief prosecutor booted over accusations of sexual misconduct

MANHATTAN (CN) — Members of the International Criminal Court elected Friday to permanently remove its chief prosecutor Karim Khan amid accusations of sexual misconduct, following a closed-door special meeting among diplomats at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

The claims have dogged the 56-year-old Khan for the past two years after a series of reports accused the British lawyer of groping a female aide against her will and trying to coerce her into a sexual relationship. He has denied wrongdoing, stating in 2024, “I absolutely can confirm there is no truth to suggestions of misconduct.”

Khan’s dismissal could threaten to upend the ICC’s historic investigation into Israel’s war on Gaza. At his request, the court in 2024 issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a senior Hamas official.

Because of that probe, Khan couldn’t be present at the vote on his own fate — he’s barred from entering the United States by the Trump administration, which imposed sanctions last year over the Israel investigation.

Just after 4 p.m., the ICC announced in a press release that a majority of representatives had voted to permanently remove him from his post.

“The assembly adopted a decision, by secret ballot, by an absolute majority of 82 states parties, finding that Mr. Karim Khan committed serious misconduct and serious breach of duty and removed him from office under article 46 of the Rome Statute,” the assembly said in a statement.

Khan’s legal team issued a lengthy statement following the vote, disputing that the process was marred by “serious defects.” He continues to deny the accusations against him and will “challenge the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms.”

“Mr. Khan’s removal was determined by a process in which he was never given a fair opportunity to be heard, and in defiance of the conclusions of the independent judges who examined the full evidential record,” said Tayab Ali, partner at Bindmans LLP and the head of Khan’s legal team.

‘Such a power disparity’

Khan’s accuser has only been identified as a 39-year-old named Sarah, a lawyer originally from Malaysia who has worked for the ICC since 2017 and is still employed by the court today. She spoke publicly about her claims against Khan in an interview with CNN last week, when she described feeling humiliated by what she called an “escalation of attempts” from Khan to coerce her into sex.

“There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity,” she said during the interview. “What I think many people don’t understand is that Mr. Khan was not just my boss, he was everyone’s boss.”

Allies to the embattled prosecutor have attributed the sexual misconduct accusations to a smear campaign backed by Israeli intelligence. Khan took a leave of absence last year pending the UN’s independent investigation into the matter.

Khan has been officially suspended by the ICC since last month, when a probe from the court’s executive committee found he engaged in “serious misconduct.” The United Kingdom’s legal watchdog, the U.K.’s Bar Standards Board, has additionally suspended him, preventing him from practicing law in his home country.

U.S. and the ICC

The U.S. is not a state party to the ICC and has grown increasingly adversarial to the court under the second Trump administration. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a sweeping campaign to dismantle the court in its entirety, calling it “radical and extreme” and claiming its existence “threatens every aspect of our political and legal system.”

Rubio vowed to pressure the 125 countries that are part of the court to withdraw from it.

The Trump administration is currently battling several lawsuits over its sanctions on the court. Three ICC judges have sued in a bid to loosen the restrictions, which they claim have “deeply affected” their personal lives. In a separate lawsuit, human rights groups claim the administration breached free speech protections by retaliating against the court for its findings against Israel.

U.S. officials have long been critical of the ICC. In 2024, then-President Joe Biden called the court’s charges against Israeli officials “outrageous.” The late Senator John McCain said in 2005 that, while he wanted the U.S. to join the court, he was “not satisfied that there are enough safeguards.”

Established in 2002 by the Rome Statute, the ICC is the only international court with jurisdiction to prosecute international violations like genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.S. has never been part of the court; it signed the Rome Statute but did not ratify it.

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