International court to launch external probe into misconduct accusations against top prosecutor

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The International Criminal Court will launch an external probe into sexual misconduct accusations against its top prosecutor, The Associated Press has learned, keeping alive a case that the court’s internal watchdog had closed within five days.

Karim Khan has categorically denied the accusations that he tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship, and the claims come amid reports of an ongoing Israeli intelligence campaign to discredit the court’s prosecution of Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The external investigation was approved this week at a meeting of the court's oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door deliberations.

It was unclear exactly who would conduct the probe, the people said, noting that possibilities included law enforcement officials from Europe and a law firm. The United Nations’ internal watchdog has also been discussed for such a probe but that could be fraught with conflict-of-interest concerns because Karim’s wife, a prominent human rights attorney, had previously worked at the agency in Kenya investigating sexual harassment.

Neither Päivi Kaukoranta, a Finnish diplomat currently heading the ICC’s oversight body, nor Khan's attorney immediately responded to requests for comment.

An AP investigation found that two court employees in whom the alleged victim confided came forward with the accusation in May, a few weeks before Khan sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders on war crimes charges. A three-judge panel is now weighing that request.

AP reported that Khan traveled frequently with the woman after transferring her to his office from another department at the ICC’s headquarters in The Hague.

During one foreign trip, Khan allegedly asked the woman to rest with him on a hotel bed and then “sexually touched her,” according to whistleblower documents shared with the court’s watchdog and seen by the AP. Later, he came to her room at 3 a.m. and knocked on the door for 10 minutes.

Other allegedly nonconsensual behavior cited in the documents included locking the door of his office and sticking his hand in her pocket. He also allegedly asked her on several occasions to go on a vacation together.

After the two co-workers reported the alleged behavior, the court's internal watchdog interviewed the woman but she opted against filing a complaint due to her distrust of the watchdog, according to the AP investigation. Khan was never questioned and the watchdog's inquiry was closed within five days.

While the court’s watchdog could not determine wrongdoing, it nonetheless urged Khan in a memo to minimize contact with the woman to protect the rights of all involved and safeguard the court’s integrity.

Under Khan, the ICC has become more assertive in combating crimes against humanity, war crimes and related atrocities. Along the way, it has added to a growing list of enemies.

Last September, following the opening of a probe into Russian atrocities in Ukraine, the court suffered a debilitating cyberattack that left staff unable to work for weeks. It also hired an intern who was later criminally charged in the U.S. with being a Russian spy.

Israel has also been waging its own influence campaign ever since the ICC recognized Palestine as a member and in 2015 opened a preliminary investigation into Israel's actions.

London’s The Guardian newspaper and several Israeli news outlets reported this summer that Israel’s intelligence agencies for the past decade have allegedly targeted senior ICC staff, including putting Khan’s predecessor under surveillance and showing up at her house with envelopes stuffed with cash to discredit her.

An external probe would go further than what Khan proposed when, following the AP report, he called on the ICC's internal watchdog to investigate the matter and said he would fully cooperate.