By Stephanie van den Berg
THE HAGUE, June 24 (Reuters) - Diplomats running the International Criminal Court's oversight body have decided that prosecutor Karim Khan had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior staff member and should be fired, two copies of its decision showed.
It is the first time details of the decision on accusations of misconduct brought by a female lawyer in 2024 against Khan, a 56-year-old British barrister, have been reported, including the recommendation that he be dismissed.
The decision by the executive bureau of the ICC's governing body will inform a vote on his fate by the ICC's 125-member Assembly of States Parties in New York on July 24. It is unclear which way the vote will go.
Khan has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. "The decision is unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence," his lawyers said in comments sent to Reuters on Tuesday. They cited a review by judges that found the evidence was insufficient to prove the allegations "beyond a reasonable doubt".
MAJORITY VOTE AT ICC REQUIRED FOR DISMISSAL
The bureau set aside the advisory opinion by the three external judges and concluded that it did have enough evidence to make a decision, citing the report of a specialised yearlong U.N. investigation commissioned by the court.
"The evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the prosecutor (...) engaged in a sexual relationship with (the victim)," a copy of the June 8 decision reviewed by Reuters said. The relationship started in March 2023 and "escalated over time and that, in the context of that power imbalance, a sexual relationship could never be appropriate".
The 27-page document, shown to Reuters by two independent sources, said Khan committed a serious breach of duty and serious misconduct.
"His behaviour escalated over time resulting in him engaging in non-consensual sexual contact with her in his office, at his private residence and whilst on mission," the document quoted the U.N. report as having found.
The bureau recommended "removal from office of the elected official, prosecutor Karim Khan," the document said.
At least 63 of the 125 member states of the world's criminal court of last resort are required to pass his dismissal.
DISMISSAL WOULD NOT IMPACT WARRANTS
A former defence attorney who took up the top job at the court five years ago, Khan has been suspended by the ICC and by Britain's independent regulator for court lawyers, which will consider his future in coming weeks.
A spokesperson for the ICC declined to comment. The bureau, a core group of 21 member states tasked with reviewing the case, did not respond to a request for comment.
The allegations against Khan and the findings of the court body have deepened the prolonged crisis at the war crimes court, which is also under U.S. sanctions over investigations into the United States and Israel.
Khan's supporters have suggested that he has become a political target for seeking arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli officials over Israel's conduct in its war in Gaza.
The U.S. 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 for a past probe into U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The warrants will remain even if Khan were to be dismissed because they were confirmed by ICC judges. Khan's deputies have run the prosecutor's office since he went on voluntary leave last May.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; editing by Anthony Deutsch and Philippa Fletcher)
