ICC member states to vote on removing prosecutor Karim Khan

NEW YORK: Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are set to vote on Friday on whether to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan over allegations of sexual misconduct, in a case that has added to pressure on the tribunal as the United States intensifies its campaign against the court.

Khan, 56, has denied wrongdoing. The vote comes a week after Washington announced a renewed diplomatic effort aimed at dismantling the ICC, which the US says threatens its sovereignty. Members of the ICC’s governing body said Khan should be dismissed on the grounds of serious misconduct, though it remains uncertain whether member states will endorse that recommendation.

To remove Khan, at least 63 of the court’s 125 member states must back his dismissal in a secret ballot due to be held at a meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The vote is scheduled for around 3pm local time, or 1900 GMT.

Allegations and response

The woman accusing Khan, a junior ICC staffer, spoke publicly last week for the first time in an interview with CNN, repeating her allegation that he had a non-consensual sexual relationship with her. Identified only by her first name, Sarah, she told CNN:

"There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity"

Lawyers for Khan told Reuters he denied any sexual relationship with the alleged victim. They also said the process leading to Friday’s vote was unlawful, procedurally unfair and not supported by evidence. They pointed to findings by a panel of independent judges, who after reviewing a report by UN investigators concluded there was no evidence to establish the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

Pressure on the court

Observers say the case has hurt the court’s standing at a difficult moment. Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association and a longtime ICC observer, told Reuters:

"The court is already in a precarious state"

He added:

"The Khan situation is a separate but very significant part of the overall perception of the court’s credibility"

The US has said no diplomatic options are off the table in its push against the ICC, and 11 of the court’s top officials are already facing sanctions. A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said last week that Washington was considering diplomatic pressure on other countries to leave the court.

The European Union has restated its backing for the ICC and said threats against the court or its elected officials were unacceptable. However, the EU and most ICC member states have not yet taken concrete public measures that could help shield the institution.

Whatever the result, turmoil likely to continue

The outcome of the vote is not expected to end internal divisions within the court. If member states remove Khan, some are likely to see that as a result of political pressure following his move to seek arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Israel, which is not an ICC member, has rejected those warrants as bogus.

If Khan is dismissed, the court would begin the process of choosing a new prosecutor, but that process is not expected to conclude before the start of next year. If he survives the vote, his authority would still be weakened and critics of the court would likely use the episode to further challenge the institution.

The ICC was created in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. It says it can act when one of its 125 member states is unable or unwilling to prosecute such crimes itself. The United States has never joined the court, although the ICC statute also gives it authority to prosecute atrocity crimes committed on the territory of member states by nationals of non-member countries.

The International Federation for Human Rights, a human rights NGO that works with victims in cases before the ICC, described the latest US push as the gravest attack so far on the world’s only permanent international criminal court. Its Secretary General Drissa Traore said:

"States created the ICC together; they now have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to defend it together"