THE HAGUE – At the same time he sought war crimes charges this year against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the International Criminal Court faced accusations that he tried for more than a year to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship.
Karim Khan has categorically denied the accusations and court officials have suggested they may have been made as part of an Israeli intelligence smear campaign.
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The Associated Press pieced together details of the accusations through documents shared with the court’s independent watchdog and interviews with eight ICC officials and individuals close to the woman.
Here are some of the key findings of the AP investigation.
What are the allegations?
Among the allegations told to AP is that Khan noticed the woman working at another department at ICC and moved her into his office, a transfer that included a pay bump. Their time together allegedly increased after a private dinner in London where Khan took the woman’s hand and complained about his marriage. She became a presence on official trips and meetings with dignitaries.
During one such trip, Khan allegedly asked the woman to rest with him on a hotel bed and then “sexually touched her,” according to the documents. Later, he came to her room at 3 a.m. and knocked on the door for 10 minutes.
Other allegedly nonconsensual behavior cited in the documents included locking the door of his office and sticking his hand in her pocket. He also allegedly asked her on several occasions to go on a vacation together.
Khan, 54, said in a statement there was “no truth to suggestions of misconduct” and that in 30 years of scandal-free work he always has stood with victims of sexual harassment and abuse.
Khan added that he would be willing, if asked, to cooperate with any inquiry, saying it is essential that an accusations “are thoroughly listened to, examined and subjected to a proper process.”
Where do the accusations stand?
Two co-workers in whom the woman confided at the ICC’s headquarters at The Hague reported the alleged misconduct in early May to the court’s independent watchdog, which says it interviewed the woman and ended its inquiry after five days when she opted against filing a formal complaint. Khan himself was never questioned.
But the matter may not be over.
While the woman who still works at the court declined to comment to AP, people close to her say her initial reluctance was driven by distrust of the in-house watchdog and she has asked the body of member-states that oversees the ICC to launch an external probe. An ICC official with knowledge of the matter who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity confirmed that request is still being considered.
Paivi Kaukoranta, a Finnish diplomat currently serving as president of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, which oversees the court, did not comment specifically when asked if it had initiated a new investigation.
But she left the door open for future action.
In a statement, she asked people to respect the integrity and confidentiality of the process, “including any further possible steps as necessary.”
What happened with the war crimes charges?
Within days of the shelving of the case, the court’s work went on. Khan on May 20 sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders on war crimes charges. A three-judge panel is now weighing that request.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said it was blindsided by the move and Israel's allies in Congress have also seized on the would-be scandal.
In announcing the charges, Khan suggest outside forces were trying to derail his investigation.
“I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately,” Khan said.
Israel has been waging an influence campaign against the court since the ICC recognized Palestine as a member and in 2015 opened a preliminary investigation into what the court referred to as “the situation in the State of Palestine.”
London’s The Guardian newspaper and several Israeli news outlets reported this summer that Israel’s intelligence agencies for the past decade have allegedly targeted senior ICC staff, including putting Khan’s predecessor under surveillance and showing up at her house with envelopes stuffed with cash to discredit her.
Netanyahu himself, in the days leading up to Khan’s announcement of war crimes charges, called on the world’s democracies “ to use all the means at their disposal ” to block the court from what he called an “outrage of historic proportions.”
The Israeli foreign ministry referred AP’s inquiries about the case to the Prime Minister’s office, which did not respond. The U.S. State Department declined to discuss the matter but said in a statement that it “takes any allegation of sexual harassment seriously, and we would expect the court to do the same.”