AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor Karim Khan denied on Thursday an accusation of unspecified misconduct after the court’s governing body confirmed that it had been notified of the allegation.
“There is no truth to suggestions of such misconduct. I have worked in diverse contexts for 30 years and there has never been such a complaint lodged against me by anyone,” Khan said in a statement.
Khan said he would be willing to provide any information needed to the court’s Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) and noted that his office has been the target of a “wide range of attacks and threats”.
The ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals.
ICC judges are currently reviewing Khan’s request in May for arrest warrants against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and Hamas leaders.
The case involving Khan was referred to the ICC’s oversight mechanism in May. The IOM deals with claims of misconduct against the court’s elected officials. No official investigation was opened at the time.
In its statement on Thursday, the ICC provided no details of the alleged misconduct.
“I am aware of recent public reports regarding alleged misconduct by the ICC Prosecutor towards a member of his Office,” the president of the Assembly of State Parties, the body made up of the court’s 124 member states, said.
The statement said the IOM had been informed of the matter “on the basis of a third-party report”, without elaborating.
The court adheres to a “zero-tolerance policy towards prohibited conduct, such as harassment, including sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse of authority, it said.
The IOM said in its annual report for 2024 that the alleged victim in the Khan case would not explicitly confirm the allegations in talks with the oversight body and therefore no formal inquiry had been launched.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Anthony DeutschEditing by Peter Graff and Gareth Jones)
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