ICC member states meet to decide whether Karim Khan should be removed

ISLAMABAD: Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) met on Friday to decide the future of prosecutor Karim Khan, who was suspended after allegations of sexual assault made by a member of his staff, accusations he has denied.

The 125 countries that are party to the court were due to vote by secret ballot during a closed-door session at United Nations headquarters in New York on whether Khan should be relieved of his duties. According to the reported procedure, an absolute majority is required for a decision.

Khan, a 56-year-old British lawyer, stepped back from his role in May 2025 to contest the allegations raised by a female colleague after an inquiry had been launched the previous year. He was then suspended last month by the 21-member bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), the ICC’s key governing body, which also convened Friday’s meeting. At the time, the bureau said the suspension was not meant to prejudge the final outcome.

Paivi Kaukoranta, who heads the assembly overseeing the ICC, described the matter during a brief public session as a complex and sensitive disciplinary case. She urged member states to handle it in a way that protected both the privacy and rights of those involved as well as the institution itself.

The woman accusing Khan, a Malaysian lawyer who had worked as his direct assistant, gave her account publicly for the first time in an interview with CNN last week. Identifying herself only by her first name, Sarah, she said there had been "an escalation of attempts" that led to physical assault.

She also told CNN:

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

In the same interview, she said:

What I think many people don’t understand is that Mr Khan was not just my boss, he was everyone’s boss.

Khan has categorically rejected the allegations. In an open letter posted on X this week, his lawyers urged ICC member states not to remove him, arguing that the procedures allowing him to defend himself had not been properly observed. While saying the investigation had not been made public and did not conclusively establish wrongdoing, they warned that removing him would send a damaging message to future officeholders.

In that letter, his attorneys wrote:

"every future prosecutor will understand the lesson."

They added:

"Independence carries a price, and the machinery of the Court can be turned against its own officeholders whenever their independence becomes inconvenient"

The statement appeared to refer to several prominent cases handled by Khan. In 2024, he drew international attention after successfully seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant in connection with the Gaza war. The ICC, based in The Hague, also issued arrest warrants for several senior Hamas leaders, who have since been killed.

Khan and several judges were subsequently targeted by US sanctions over the warrants issued for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Stephan Rapp, a former US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, said the process may not have been perfect but that the inquiry had been comprehensive. Speaking to AFP, he said:

My own view is that the evidence is more than sufficient for his removal, and I think for the ICC to have any credibility, he must be removed.

Rapp added:

"If they don’t, that may be the end of the court."

He further said:

It’ll destroy its credibility and make itself even more vulnerable to these unfair attacks from the United States.