Although Prosecutor Karim Khan’s leave of absence from his duties at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been prompted by the investigation of sexual misconduct allegations levelled against him by one of his juniors, his tribulations are following the pattern of a series of events to hit the court in recent months, potentially threatening the institution’s stability and credibility.
The ICC announced on May 16, 2025, that Khan had temporarily stepped aside as the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) went on with its investigation. The OIOS will report its findings to the President of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), which provides oversight of the court.
It is not clear how long the investigation will take and whether the Prosecutor’s absence will affect the ongoing cases and investigations at the ICC. However, the ASP Presidency gave assurance that the Office of the Prosecutor would continue functioning smoothly under the leadership of the two Deputy Prosecutors during the Prosecutor’s absence.
“The Presidency of the Assembly is confident that the work of the court in the interest of justice, under the leadership of its Presidency, the Registrar, and the Deputy Prosecutors, continues normally and without any interruptions,” it said on May 18, 2025.
Deputy Prosecutors Mame Mandiaye Niang and Nazhat Shameem Khan followed this with their announcement that they had assumed leadership, management, and administration of the OTP, reassuring the public and the stakeholders of the continued functioning and integrity of the office.
“The office reaffirms its commitment to the continued effective implementation of its mandate to deliver justice for victims of Rome Statute crimes, across all situations and cases globally… The office is acutely aware of the duty of care it owes to all staff members and personnel, especially affected individuals. The Deputy Prosecutors and OTP personnel will continue to rely on the support and collaboration of the Rome Statute community, and all partners, in carrying the office’s mandate forward,” stated the OTP.
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The Prosecutor’s action contradicted reports claiming that throughout the year Khan has faced the accusations, he resisted pressure to step aside to validate the investigation and increase confidence in the process. The International Federation for Human Rights, one of the organisations that had urged Khan to step aside, welcomed his decision, saying in a statement posted on its social media pages, “This was the only responsible decision. No one is above accountability — not even the Prosecutor of the ICC.”
The Israeli Iink
There have been claims that the accusations against Khan are linked to his work at the court, especially concerning the situation of the State of Palestine, which resulted in the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In May 2024, Khan termed the accusations against him as “categorically untrue”, saying they were part of a broader campaign to discredit him and the ICC. At the time, he was leading the case that resulted in the ICC issuing arrest warrants in November 2024 for the Israeli leaders. Media reports indicated that ICC staff had complained of Israeli agents’ increased harassment and heightened efforts to interfere with the court.
A The Guardian investigation published in May 2024 reported how, for almost 10 years, Israel had used its intelligence agencies to “surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff” to try to derail the court’s investigation into its operations in the occupied territories.
“Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents,” the report said.
Bensouda confirmed in another article published in November 2024 that she and her family were subjected to “thug-style tactics”, threats and intimidation while in office.
The warrants, together with those Khan obtained against senior Russian officials in 2023 and 2024, including President Vladimir Putin, were considered a major credit to the Prosecutor since he took office in June 2021. However, for his efforts, Khan and the ICC have faced increased pressure from the US, which in February 2025 imposed visa and financial sanctions on the Prosecutor and other non-American employees of the ICC, banning them from entering the US. It also threatened action against any person or institution that assists the Prosecutor with “financial, material, or technological support” to act against US citizens and their allies for what the Donald Trump administration termed “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”.
This is in stark contrast to the actions of the Americans under the administration of President Joe Biden. It supported the ICC as it went after the Russian leadership following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is not clear if the new administration will continue to support the ICC’s actions against the Russians as its policy towards Russia seems to have changed.
The ICC has suffered for its actions against the Russian leadership. After issuing the arrest warrants in 2023, the ICC suffered a serious cyberattack on its systems. Reports indicate that the ICC needs millions of euros to repair its systems and enhance its security. Russia also hit back by placing three top ICC judges and the Prosecutor on a criminal wanted list.
Consequences of US sanctions
The sanctions have had an immediate negative effect on the Prosecutor and the ICC. Just before Khan announced his leave of absence, the AP reported that his bank accounts in the UK, his home country, had been blocked and his Microsoft email accounts suspended.
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The court’s functions have also been curtailed and there are concerns that this will negatively affect justice for victims of atrocity crimes. AP reports that the ICC has lost several American employees, who have resigned after being threatened with arrest if they go back home because of their association with the ICC.
Andrew Cayley, a British lawyer who was overseeing the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories, resigned in March “…because of the threat of US sanctions.” He told Journalists For Justice (JFJ) that his family lives in the US and he would be banned from travelling there or conducting any financial transactions.
Contractors and non-governmental organisations have cut back their work and contacts with the court for fear of being punished by American agencies.
The sanctions are reminiscent of Trump’s first administration, when in 2020 he imposed penalties on the then Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and one of her deputies in response to the court’s decision to open an inquiry into war crimes committed by all sides in Afghanistan during the period when the US military was operating there.
The US Treasury described the two ICC officials as “specially designated nationals”, placing them in the same category as terrorists and narcotics traffickers, blocking their assets, and prohibiting US citizens from associating with them.
The court’s inability to enforce its arrest warrants has for years highlighted its weakness. The ICC depends on the cooperation of ASP member states to carry out its duties, yet these new developments are chipping away at its authority, raising concerns about whether the court can survive the current onslaught. Despite the outstanding warrant for him, Netanyahu was welcomed in Sofia by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, despite Hungary being a member of the ASP. He has visited the United States twice without any consequences. The US is not a member of the ICC. Mongolia, also a state party to the Rome Statute, welcomed Putin in September 2024, making no effort to uphold its duty to arrest him. Friedrich Merz, the new Chancellor in Germany, a staunch supporter of the ICC, promised to invite Netanyahu to visit his country and leave without being detained.
Policy on sexual exploitation and abuse
According to the ASP, the independent inquiry by the OIOS is seeking to determine whether Khan violated the ICC’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse as formalised in an administrative instruction issued in March 2023, which declares that the court “shall not remain silent or passive in the face of reported incidents, regardless of the offender”. Should the allegations be proven, the OIOS findings could trigger disciplinary action against Khan which would be imposed by an absolute majority of the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties.
The allegations against the Prosecutor, which were first revealed in the ICC’s Independent Oversight Mechanism’s 2023-2024 Annual Report, involve a female lawyer accusing Khan of unwanted sexual touching and abuse over approximately one year. It was later reported that the incidents allegedly took place in multiple locations, including New York, Colombia, Congo, Chad, Paris and a residence owned by Khan’s wife in The Hague, Netherlands. The accuser alleges that Khan physically coerced her into sexual intercourse despite her objections, and that she remained silent due to financial pressures and fears of professional retaliation. Khan denies the allegations.
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This is not the first time a prosecutor of the court is facing sexual misconduct allegations. The first ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, who served from 2003 to 2012, was accused of sexual misconduct involving a female South African journalist during a work trip in 2005. One claim said that Ocampo took the journalist’s car keys and refused to return them unless she agreed to sexual intercourse. Ocampo vehemently denied the allegations.
A panel of judges was constituted to investigate the complaint after former public information adviser and media spokesperson at the ICC Christian Palme filed an internal complaint over the allegation. The judges dismissed the complaint as unfounded after interviewing the alleged victim and Ocampo, both of whom denied the allegations.
Ocampo later dismissed Palme for what he termed “serious misconduct”. However, an employment tribunal overturned the decision, saying Palme’s complaint was made on reasonable grounds and that Ocampo had breached due process by personally dismissing her. Palme was awarded compensation.
