International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan, the face of an effort to prosecute Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the country’s self-defense efforts against the jihadists of Hamas, reportedly pressured an unnamed woman into not cooperating with a sexual misconduct investigation against him, the Guardian reported this weekend.
The Guardian – which traditionally maintains a left-wing, anti-Israel slant – added that its investigation into the allegations did not unearth any evidence that Israel or any other country had meddled in the investigation or played a role in any allegations against Khan. Its report, published on Sunday, followed a bombshell investigation published by the Daily Mail a week ago that revealed ICC auditors had acknowledged an addressed a sexual misconduct claim against Khan.
Khan issued a personal statement to the Daily Mail vehemently denying the charges and claiming that both he and his family had faced significant threats since his formal request for a warrant against Netanyahu. Khan’s attorneys issued comments to the Guardian similarly denying the claims.
The initial report on Khan’s alleged misconduct was vague, offering no details of the harassment he stood accused of. The Guardian claimed to have spoken to “11 current and former ICC officials familiar with the case” and “diplomatic sources and friends of the alleged victim,” all remaining anonymous, for its investigation. The newspaper also reported it was privy to documents detailing the allegations.
“According to a document seen by the Guardian, the accusations against Khan, 54, include unwanted sexual touching and ‘abuse’ over an extended period,” the newspaper stated. “They include an alleged incident in which he is said to have ‘pressed his tongue’ into the woman’s ear.”
The alleged abuse occurred, the Guardian claimed, between April 2023 and April 2024 and included increasingly hostile sexual contact, including groping and other unwanted touching, “in his office at the ICC’s headquarters, in hotel rooms on overseas work trips, as well as at his home in The Hague.”
The Guardian report coincided with the Daily Mail’s claims that the woman in question did not formally denounce Khan and did not appear to want to be involved in any formal mechanism to address the alleged abuse. She informed colleagues about the behavior, both outlets claimed, and then found out that the ICC’s “independent oversight mechanism (IOM),” an internal investigation office, had begun seeking information on the alleged incident.
“She never wanted any of this,” one of the Guardian‘s anonymous sources said. “But the complaint filed against her wishes, followed by Khan’s denials and attempts to suppress the allegations, have forced her into a very difficult position.”
The woman reportedly did not cooperate with the investigation, but also did not deny the claims, the newspaper asserted. It added that Khan and at least one other “official close to him” intimidated her in an attempt to ensure she would deny the accusations.
“The alleged attempts to deter the woman from formally pursuing the claims took place in phone calls and in person, and came after Khan learned court authorities had been made aware of allegations of misconduct, four sources said,” according to the newspaper. Khan and his associate allegedly pressured her to write a letter denying the claims, which the victim reportedly did not do.
Khan’s attorneys issued a comment to the Guardian asserting “that neither our client, nor any person acting on his behalf, or who reports to him, asked for any such letter to be written, nor did they ask the person to withdraw any allegations.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) gifts the books of ”The Evidence” which is Anadolu Agency’s report, that alleges Israel’s crimes in Gaza, to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan (L) at Turkevi Center in New York, United States on September 23, 2024. (TUR Presidency/Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Our client has fully complied with internal processes and allowed these matters to be handled in an impartial manner by authorities independent of him,” the statement asserted.
“Our client denies the whole of the allegations and we are most concerned the exposure of a confidential and closed internal matter is designed to undermine his high-profile ongoing work at a delicate time,” the lawyer added.
The initial Daily Mail report noted last week that the allegations against Khan had circulated for some time and resurfaced shortly before the publication of that report via anonymous, unverified accounts on Twitter. The ICC confirmed to the British tabloid that its IOM had investigated the claims in question but did not offer any clarity regarding the veracity of the claims.
“Following the conversation with the alleged victim, the IOM was not in a position to proceed with an investigation at that stage,” an IOM representative stated.
Khan issued a statement himself in response to the initial report, acknowledging the probe “with deep sadness” and denying the claims.
“I absolutely can confirm there is no truth to suggestions of misconduct,” Khan said in a statement to the Daily Mail. “This is a moment in which myself and the International Criminal Court are subject to a wide range of attacks and threats. In recent months my family including my wife and child have also been targeted.”
Khan added, “there has never been such a complaint lodged against me by anyone” in 30 years.
The ICC is an international court tasked with prosecuting individuals for the crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity only. It has jurisdiction only in countries that have signed onto the Rome Statute, the international legal document that created it. As ICC prosecutor, Khan has developed a reputation for targeting high-profile individuals following his decision to pursue an arrest warrant for Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. The ICC approved his request in March 2023, significantly complicating Putin’s ability to travel to Rome Statute signatory countries. Putin is facing charges of war crimes for violations during the ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In May, Khan formally requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and several high-ranking members of the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas in relation to the war that Hamas began with the brutal invasion and massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023. Khan claimed that Israel’s operations to eliminate the Hamas threat in Gaza constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day,” Khan wrote.
An outraged Netanyahu condemned Khan for creating “a twisted and false moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel and the henchmen of Hamas.”
“This is like creating a moral equivalence after September 11th between President Bush and Osama Bin Laden, or during World War II between FDR and Hitler,” Netanyahu condemned.
Hamas leaders lamented their inclusion in the arrest warrant requests but applauded the actions against Israeli leaders.
The ICC has not at press time completed its review of the warrant requests related to Israel and Gaza.
