image source, Reuters
Yesterday, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking to issue arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against the backdrop of the ongoing war since October 7.
Khan’s decision, which condemned Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar, Muhammad Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel, caused widespread uproar at the international level.
Who is Karim Khan?
In June 2021, British lawyer Karim Khan (54 years old) assumed the duties of Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court after taking the oath in which he pledged to work “honourably, honestly, impartially, and in accordance with the dictates of conscience.”
At the time, he solemnly pledged to “exercise his duties and powers as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court with honor, honesty, impartiality, and in accordance with the dictates of conscience.”
British Muslim lawyer and jurist Karim Ahmed Khan succeeded Gambian judge Fatou Bensouda, against whom the administration of former US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions.
The International Criminal Court, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, is the only entity mandated to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity on a permanent basis.
Khan’s term as Prosecutor General of the Court continues for 9 years, and he is the third Prosecutor General in the history of the Court, which was established 18 years ago.
image source, Reuters
Thorny issues
Khan holds a Bachelor of Laws degree with honors from King George’s College, University of London.
He then entered the University of Cambridge, where he obtained a master’s degree in international law.
Khan served as an advisor to the British Crown.
Over the course of his twenty-seven-year legal career, Khan participated in most international criminal trials as well as local trials, in positions that varied between a representative of the prosecution, a representative of the defense, and a legal advisor to the victims.
Among the trials he participated in were those for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, the Rwandan massacres, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
He acted as the defense representative for former Kenyan Vice President William Ruto before the International Criminal Court, which dropped the murder, deportation, and persecution charges against him following the elections his country witnessed in 2007.
He also represented the defense of Saif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in 2016.
Since 2018, Khan has served as Special Adviser and Head of the investigative team established by a Security Council resolution to strengthen accountability efforts for mass crimes, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Islamic State in Iraq, known by its acronym UNITAD.