The Wall Street Journal has blown the lid off allegations into ICC Chief Prosecutor Can Cream Khan Karim Karim Khan’s alleged, eh, blowing his lid off.
International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal said Saturday, in a report that questioned whether the allegations may have prompted his decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The report said that at the time — weeks after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught — Khan was coming under increasing pressure to take action over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and that he had been lashing out at his team.
According to the report, the woman testified to UN officials that Khan started to touch her in a sexual manner, something that she said had been occurring for a number of months.
“She said she attempted to leave the room several times, but he took her hand and eventually pulled her to the bed. Then he pulled off her pants and forced sexual intercourse, according to the testimony,” the report said.
“He always holds on to me and leads me to the bed,” she said in testimony reviewed by the Journal. “It’s the feeling of being trapped.”
The report said the woman, a married mother, claimed it was one of multiple incidents of “coerced sexual intercourse” but that she stayed in the job because she felt it was an important role in human rights, and she was additionally paying for medical care for her mother. The report said she also began to fear retaliation if she were to complain.
The woman alleged that Khan carried out “nonconsensual sex acts” in New York, Colombia, Congo, Chad, and Paris, as well as at a residence owned by his wife in The Hague, the report said.
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The newspaper said that just two and a half weeks after Khan learned of the allegations, on May 20, 2024, he announced his intention to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over the war in Gaza, in addition to Hamas leaders. The day before, he had canceled a fact-finding mission to Israel and Gaza for which he had pressed then-US secretary of state Anthony Blinken to convince Israel to grant him access to Gaza, the report said, citing a May 3, 2024, phone call between the two. According to the newspaper, it was at that time that Khan found out about the allegations against him.
“The timing of the announcement has spurred questions about whether Khan was aiming to protect himself from the sexual-assault allegations. The day before announcing the warrant application, Khan abruptly canceled a trip to Israel and Gaza that he had previously said was important to make his decision,” the report said.
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However, court officials told the newspaper that the arrest warrants ensured support for Khan from anti-Israel countries if the allegations were to become public and additionally discouraged his accuser from coming forward.
The woman allegedly told investigators that Khan had informed her that her accusations would harm the investigation into the Gaza war.
“Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants,” she said he told her, according to her testimony.
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The woman, a Muslim, was said to support investigations of Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas. She reportedly later told colleagues she didn’t want to harm the arrest warrant process by filing a complaint. On April 29 of that year, she eventually told officials about the alleged assaults, and on May 5, the ICC’s internal investigation agency contacted her.
If these allegations are true, it looks like Khan has more in common with Hamas than first thought.
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