LONDON (CU)_A leading British barrister has been elected the next chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), after winning 72 votes out of 123 countries, in the second round of voting.
Karim Khan, who is also a Queen’s Counsel, is better known for his leadership in a United Nations investigation into war crimes committed by the Islamic State group in Iraq. The 50-year-old barrister will begin his nine-year term at the court in the Hague in June.
He will be only the third chief prosecutor in the court’s 18-year history, replacing the incumbent Fatou Bensouda, who was slapped with US sanctions under the Trump administration for continuing to probe war crimes allegations against the United States in Afghanistan.
Welcoming Khan’s election, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “Karim’s extensive experience in international law will be pivotal in ensuring we hold those responsible for the most heinous crimes to account and gain justice for their victims.”
In a career that spans over 27 years, Khan has worked for almost every international criminal tribunal, including the tribunalsfor crimes committed in the wars in the former Yugoslavia and during the Rwandan genocide. He has also defended prominent figures such as Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto and the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saifd Al Islam.
Since 2018, the British barrister has led a UN investigation which is aimed at bringing to justice the perpetrators of IS atrocities in Iraq.
After taking office in June, one of the key tasks Khan will be assigned with is to decide how to handle controversial investigations into war crimes in Afghanistan, and potentially in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Hague-based ICC is the only permanent body investigating crimes against humanity. It has been constrained from the start with the refusal of the United States, Russia and China to join.
Earlier this month, Israel – which along with the US, China and Russia does not recognise the court – has accused the ICC of infringing “the right of democratic countries to defend themselves” when it ruled that it has jurisdiction over war crimes and atrocities committed in the Palestinian territories.
