Second Woman Accuses International Criminal Court Prosecutor of Sexual Misconduct

Karim Khan faces allegations of groping an aide and repeatedly pressuring women to have sex with him.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, arrives for a UN Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters, July 13, 2023, at New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The troubled chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, now faces accusations of sexual misconduct from a second woman.

The unnamed woman was in her 20s and serving as an unpaid intern for Mr. Khan in 2019. She claims in an interview that he subjected her to unwanted sexual advances and repeatedly tried to pressure her into having sex with him.

Mr. Khan is on administrative leave from the U.N. agency pending the outcome of an external probe into earlier sexual abuse allegations. The second woman came forward to investigators this summer, The Guardian reported.

She told the paper that she faced a “constant onslaught” of advances from Mr. Khan. “He shouldn’t have been doing it,” she added, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “He was my employer.”

The woman also claimed that Mr. Khan once “groped” her breasts with an unwanted “prolonged” caress.

She says she continued to work for Mr. Kahn and did not report the incidents because she needed a recommendation from him at the end of her internship. She told the paper that she had to “either persevere or leave.”

She reportedly provided formal testimony to investigators looking into the earlier allegations.

That probe was prompted by a complaint last year from a Malaysian aide close to Mr. Khan. She accused him of forcing her into sexual intercourse on several occasions, including during trips to New York and Paris, as well as at the Hague. She claimed the incidents took place over an extended period in 2023 and 2024.

The ICC was created in 2002 by the Rome Statute in the aftermath of the Yugoslav wars and Rwanda’s genocide. The idea was to establish a permanent international tribunal that would act as a watchdog against war crimes and genocide.

But it has been selective in its targets. The court has ignored issues such as China’s Uyghur camps and Iran’s terror networks but has repeatedly gone after Israel.

Mr. Khan announced last November that he was seeking to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their roles in the Gaza war.

Shortly before taking his leave in May, he reportedly considered additional warrants against Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in connection with settlement policy.

President Trump signed an executive order earlier this year sanctioning the ICC and Mr. Khan over “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”

Mr. Khan’s supporters claim the allegations are being used to pressure him for targeting Israel, but ICC sources told the Jerusalem Post that there is nothing to indicate that the women fabricated their stories.

It is unclear how much longer the probe into Mr. Kahn will last but its findings will be used to decide if any action should be taken, including his removal from office.

A law firm that is representing Mr. Kahn calls the accusations “entirely false.” Mr. Khan’s lawyers say he has provided investigators with evidence which directly contradicts the account she has given.

“That evidence demonstrates that her claims are not only false, but in material respects are bizarre and wholly implausible,” the legal team claims.


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