The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has announced that he will step down indefinitely while allegations of sexual misconduct against him are investigated
The decision was confirmed on Sunday by the Assembly of States Parties, the body that oversees the ICC.
In his absence, Deputy Prosecutors Mame Mandiaye Niang and Nazhat Shameem Khan (who is not related to Karim) will take over the leadership of the office.
This is the first time since the ICC was created in 2002 that a chief prosecutor has been removed over such allegations, although other scandals have occurred over the years.
Karim Khan’s work at the ICC
Karim Khan took office as chief prosecutor in June 2021. Initially, he paid little attention to the war crimes allegations involving Israel and Hamas.
Previously, former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had attempted to pursue a criminal investigation into Israel related to the 2014 Gaza conflict and settlement construction.
However, with the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, Khan changed his approach and began accusing Israel of war crimes.
In May 2024, he asked the ICC’s Preliminary Chamber to approve arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders (who were later killed).
In November 2024, the chamber approved the warrants, confirming that the ICC has the authority to prosecute war crimes against Israel.
However, on April 24 this year, the ICC’s Appeals Chamber ruled that the issue of jurisdiction should be reconsidered by a lower court.
Charges against Khan and impact on the case
Some have suggested that Khan may have escalated the accusations against Israel to divert attention from the sexual abuse allegations against him.
It is unclear whether his removal will affect the progress of the case against Netanyahu and Gallant.
Meanwhile, the international community has been highly critical of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, often without considering the full context of the situation.
On the other hand, Israel has been slow to release the results of its own investigations, which include some 90 criminal inquiries, hundreds of operational reviews and more than a thousand preliminary analyses of the allegations against its soldiers.
Published in 05/18/2025 23h46
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
Reference article:
| Geoprocessing Drone Systems HPC |
| ERP and CRM Systems Mobile Systems AI |