ICC members dismiss prosecutor Khan, sources say
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. Established by the 1998 Rome Statute, it serves as a court of last resort, meaning it only steps in when national courts cannot or will not act. Photo: REUTERS/file
Member states of the International Criminal Court voted on Friday to dismiss Karim Khan as prosecutor following allegations of sexual misconduct, two diplomatic sources told Reuters.
According to the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, 82 of the court's 125 member states voted in favour of the prosecutor's removal.
Khan, 56, denies any wrongdoing and his lawyers have called the process that led to the vote unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.
Khan's dismissal follows an announcement by the United States that it will launch a renewed diplomatic campaign to dismantle the ICC, which it says is a threat to its sovereignty.
Diplomats running the court's oversight body decided last month that the British barrister had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior ICC lawyer and should be fired. Member states largely followed that conclusion in a vote at the United Nations in New York on Friday.
During a visit to the Philippines on Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were "lunatics and crazies involved in the ICC" and there was no way any US political or military officials would ever go on trial at the court, reiterating previous criticism.
The US, which is not a member, has imposed sanctions on 11 ICC judges and prosecutors, including Khan, citing the ICC's arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and a past probe into U.S. troops in Afghanistan.