As the International Criminal Court (ICC) sharpened its focus on Israel's war crimes in Gaza, its top prosecutor was allegedly invoking the same cause to silence a woman who accused him of repeated sexual assault.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan used the Palestine case to discourage a female colleague from pressing charges, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation. "Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants," he reportedly told her, warning any complaint against him would damage "the justice of the victims."
The accuser, a Malaysian human rights lawyer in her 30s, joined Khan's team in 2023 after working at the ICC for six years. She alleges Khan's advances began shortly after.
In testimony reviewed by the WSJ, she said he sexually assaulted her several times in different countries. The alleged abuse came to a head in December 2023, during a visit to New York for an ICC meeting at the United Nations. In her account, Khan invited her to his suite at the Millennium Hilton hotel, where he allegedly touched her sexually, pulled her to the bed, removed her pants, and raped her.
"He always holds on to me and leads me to the bed," she said in her testimony. "It's the feeling of being trapped."
She testified that Khan also assaulted her multiple times at his home in The Hague, including forced sex, often without protection.
"I did not move an inch," she later told UN investigators about one incident in Bogota, Colombia, where, she says, Khan came to her room, lay beside her, and assaulted her again. She told him later that she was having suicidal thoughts.
Khan allegedly left her alone briefly, only to resume the abuse weeks later.
Karim Khan campaigned to become the ICC's chief prosecutor in 2020, with backing from then-Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto. He assumed office in June 2021.
Ironically, one of his early promises was to clean up workplace behaviour. He reportedly tried to fire 10 men in the prosecutor's office over misconduct, including inappropriate relationships.
Yet soon, the woman now accusing him of abuse would face the very problem he vowed to eliminate - from him.
The woman initially stayed silent, fearing it would derail the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defence minister Yoav Gallant. "The casualties will unfortunately be three: You and your family, me and my family and the justice of the victims," Khan allegedly told her.
Some details of the allegations surfaced internally in November 2024, just as Khan was preparing to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. The ICC accused them of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including using starvation as a weapon of war and targeting civilians in Gaza.
ICC officials told the WSJ that the decision to go forward with the high-profile Gaza case may have been rushed to distract from the looming scandal.
Khan, through his legal team, has denied any wrongdoing and rejected any link between the sexual assault probe and the Israel-Palestine case.
An internal ICC crisis began on April 29, 2024, when the woman reportedly broke down in front of senior ICC legal adviser Thomas Lynch, revealing the alleged abuse. Just days later, Khan was confronted by Lynch and two aides at his residence. "I will need to resign," Khan said, according to ICC insiders, before quickly adding, "But then people will think I'm running away from Palestine."
The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has since launched a formal investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations and also whether Khan tried to intimidate the woman and others involved.
The woman said she stayed in her job because of her commitment to human rights, financial responsibilities for her terminally ill mother, and fear of retaliation. Her account has been backed by current and former ICC officials, the report said.
Removing Khan from his post would require a majority vote from the court's 125 member states.
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