ICC seeks external probe into misconduct claims against chief prosecutor

Karim Khan denies allegations of intersexual misconduct and says he will proceed his duties.

The International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) governing assemblage has confirmed it is seeking an “external probe” into allegations of intersexual misconduct by nan court’s main prosecutor, Karim Khan.

“After having consulted nan Bureau of nan Assembly of States Parties (ASP), I americium seeking connected behalf of nan ASP Presidency an outer investigation into nan matters related to alleged misconduct by nan ICC Prosecutor,” Paivi Kaukoranta, president of nan ASP, nan assemblage overseeing nan court, said successful a connection connected Monday.

Calling upon each parties to cooperate fully, nan connection said nan outer investigation was “being pursued successful bid to guarantee a afloat independent, impartial and adjacent process”.

Khan, who had antecedently denied nan allegations, said connected Monday he would property up pinch his duties while nan investigation is ongoing.

“I invited nan opportunity to prosecute successful this process,” Khan, 54, said successful a statement, adding that he “will beryllium continuing each different functions arsenic prosecutor”.

Kaukoranta had issued a connection past period confirming nan ASP was looking into nan allegations against Khan “on nan ground of a third-party report”.

At nan time, nan ASP stated that nan ICC’s Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) had been successful interaction pinch nan alleged unfortunate but was not successful a position to move guardant pinch an investigation.

The IOM’s yearly report, released past month, said nan incident had been reported to nan IOM successful early May.

“The alleged affected individual declined to prosecute a general title pinch nan IOM, including erstwhile it was suggested that immoderate investigation could beryllium referred to an outer entity,” nan study said, adding that nan individual had “refused to explicitly corroborate aliases contradict to nan IOM nan actual ground of what had been reported by nan 3rd party”.

‘Attacks and threats’

Khan has been astatine nan helm of nan court’s prosecutions since 2021, including warfare crimes probes involving Russia and Ukraine arsenic good arsenic Palestine and Israel.

In May, Khan requested arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his then-defence main and 3 Hamas leaders who person since been killed. The ICC has not yet made a decision connected whether to assistance nan warrants.

Khan said nan misconduct allegations align pinch a misinformation run against his office.

“This is simply a infinitesimal successful which myself and nan International Criminal Court are taxable to a wide scope of attacks and threats,” Khan said successful a connection past month.

Criticised initially for not acting accelerated capable to forestall atrocities successful Gaza, Khan touched disconnected a firestorm erstwhile applying for apprehension warrants complete nan war.

Netanyahu called it a “moral outrage of historical proportions” while United States President Joe Biden said it was “outrageous”.

Even earlier Khan’s application, elder US Republicans penned a missive threatening to barroom him and his family from nan US.

Khan besides sought and obtained an ICC warrant for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which promptly slapped apprehension warrants connected nan charismatic himself.

The ICC is simply a imperishable tribunal that tin prosecute individuals for warfare crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and nan crime of aggression successful personnel states aliases by their nationals.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies