Karim Ahmad Khan | |
---|---|
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 16 June 2021 | |
President | Piotr Hofmański |
Deputy | Mame Mandiaye Niang and Nazhat Shameem |
Preceded by | Fatou Bensouda |
Personal details | |
Born | Karim Asad Ahmad Khan 30 March 1970 Edinburgh,Scotland [1] |
Relatives | Imran Ahmad Khan (brother) |
Alma mater | King's College London |
Karim Asad Ahmad Khan KC (born 30 March 1970) is a British lawyer specialising in international criminal law and international human rights law,who has served as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court since 2021.
After his appointment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations,António Guterres,he served as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and acted as Special Advisor and Head of the United Nations Investigative Team [2] to promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh/ISIL in Iraq (UNITAD),which was established in accordance with Security Council resolution 2379 (2017) to support national efforts to hold ISIL (Daesh) accountable for acts that may amount to war crimes,genocide,and crimes against humanity in Iraq. [3]
On 12 February 2021,Khan was elected the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). [4]
Educated at Silcoates School,Khan earned an LLB degree and AKC from King's College London. [5] He was called to the Bar of England and Wales by Lincoln's Inn in 1992. He later attended Wolfson College at Oxford University as a Doctoral candidate (D.Phil.) in law,although he did not complete the course and does not hold a Doctorate. Between 1993 and 1996 Khan was a Crown Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales, [6] as well as a Senior Crown Prosecutor in 1995.[ citation needed ]
From 1997,Khan worked as a Legal Officer at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) between 1997 and 1998. He later served as Legal Adviser at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) until 2000. [7]
Between 2006 and 2007,Khan was lead defence counsel to former President of Liberia Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). [7]
Khan spent several years engaged in leading cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC),International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC),and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). In 2008,he was appointed Lead Counsel to former Le Monde journalist Florence Hartmann,who had served as chief spokesperson to ICTY and ICTR prosecutor Carla del Ponte,when she was charged with contempt of court. Between 2008 and 2010,he was engaged as Lead Counsel before the ICC representing Sudanese rebel leader Bahr Idriss Abu Garda,the first ICC suspect to voluntarily surrender to the jurisdiction of the Court. In January 2011,he was instructed as Lead Counsel to represent Francis Muthaura before the ICC in relation to the post-election violence in 2007–2008. He later served as Lead Counsel for Deputy President of Kenya William Ruto before the ICC,and Lead Counsel for Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Fatmir Limaj before the EULEX Court in Kosovo from 2014 until 2017. He also served as the Lead Counsel for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Baghdadi Mahmudi at the ICC.[ citation needed ]
Khan represented a group of Anglophone human rights lawyers charged with terrorism and other offences before the Military Court in Yaoundé,Cameroon,as international counsel from February 2017 until September 2017. He led the team that advised Cham and Albanian communities in relation to their expulsion from Greece,and subsequent expropriation of property after the Second World War. He was lead counsel for a large victims case in Sierra Leone arising out of the ECOMOG intervention in 1999–2002,and he represented more than 100,000 victim claimants from the Kipsigi and Talai communities in Kenya seeking redress for alleged human rights violations committed during British colonial rule.[ citation needed ] Khan said that "Certain historical injustices need to be recognized ... It’s something that I feel very passionately about and it’s really worthwhile." [8]
Until June 2021,Khan was based in Baghdad,Iraq,and served as Special Adviser and Head of the Investigative Team for the United Nations Investigative Team for the Promotion of Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL in Iraq (UNITAD),established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017). [9] Khan led the team in achieving its mandate in the collection,storage,and preservation of evidence related to crimes committed by Da'esh/ISIL;the promotion throughout the world of accountability for the crimes committed by Da'esh/ISIL;to work with survivors in recognition of their interest in the achievement of accountability for crimes to which they have been subjected;to respect the sovereignty of the Government of Iraq in performing this investigation.[ citation needed ]
Khan met with government,religious,and community leadership across Iraq as part of his mandate at UNITAD. [10] [11] [12]
In February 2021,Khan was elected chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on a nine-year term during the second round of voting,receiving votes from 72 out of 123 member states (62 needed). Khan was the third chief prosecutor elected in the ICC's history,and the first one elected by secret ballot. Khan had been nominated by the United Kingdom. [4] [13] He took office in June 2021,replacing Fatou Bensouda.
In September 2021,Khan resumed the investigation into crimes committed by the Taliban and the Islamic State in Khorassan in Afghanistan which had been suspended in 2020 at the request of the government of Kabul. He dropped the investigation into the war crimes in Afghanistan committed by international forces,including the United States,in Afghanistan. He also dropped the investigation into the United States' use of in secret CIA prisons in Poland,Romania and Lithuania in the early 2000's where kidnapped prisoners were interrogated and tortured for their alleged membership of the Taliban or Al-Qaida. Khan said the investigations were dropped because of the limited financial means of the ICC. [14]
In April 2022,Khan said of the war in Ukraine:"We have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed." [15] Eleven months later,he applied for two arrest warrants alleging Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova violated two Rome Statute rules against systematic deportation,transfer and hostage-taking. [16] In response,Russia issued a warrant for Khan's arrest. [17]
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Business Insider reported that a statement by Khan "appeared to suggest" that both Israel and Hamas could be prosecuted by the ICC. [18] According to Khan,the bar for evidence that a hospital,school,or place of worship is being used for military purposes is very high. [19] On 17 November 2023,Khan stated the ICC had received a joint request by South Africa,Bangladesh,Bolivia,Comoros,and Djibouti to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes. [20] South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor asked Khan why he was able to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Putin,but not for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [21] The Israeli government called emergency meetings over concerns the ICC could be preparing arrest warrants against Netanyahu,other senior officials,or officers of the Israeli Defense Forces. It decided it would reach out to the court and 'diplomatic figures with influence' with the aim of blocking the issuing of arrest warrants. Netanyahu raised the matter in his meetings with Britain’s Foreign Secretary Cameron and Germany’s Foreign Minister Baerbock,and sought their help. [22] [23]
Between 1996 and 1997,Khan was a member of staff at the Law Commission of England and Wales.[ citation needed ] He is a life member of the Human Rights Institute,International Bar Association (IBA),[ citation needed ] and a founding director of the Peace and Justice Initiative, [24] a Hague-based NGO focused on effective implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court at national levels.
Khan served until 2018 as a member of the executive council and the victims committee of the International Criminal Court Bar Association,and he was the president of the ICCBA from June 2017 to June 2018. At the end of his tenure,Khan was appointed the first honorary president of the ICCBA. [25] In July 2018,he was recognised as a worldwide ambassador of the African Bar Association.[ citation needed ]
Khan was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2011.[ citation needed ] He is a member of Temple Garden Chambers London.[ citation needed ]
Khan’s father,a consultant dermatologist,was born in Mardan,Pakistan. [26] His mother,a state registered nurse,was born in the United Kingdom. [27] Khan is a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. [28] He was first married to Yasmin Rehman Mona,the daughter of the fourth caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community,Mirza Tahir Ahmad. He recently has remarried outside his community to Dato Shyamala Alagendra,a Malaysian lawyer. He has two sons. He has a sister and two brothers, [26] one of whom is the former Conservative British MP and convicted sex offender Imran Ahmad Khan. [29]
The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague,Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide,crimes against humanity,war crimes and the crime of aggression. The ICC is distinct from the International Court of Justice,an organ of the United Nations that hears disputes between states.
Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows states or international organizations to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where the alleged crime was committed,and regardless of the accused's nationality,country of residence,or any other relation to the prosecuting entity. Crimes prosecuted under universal jurisdiction are considered crimes against all,too serious to tolerate jurisdictional arbitrage. The concept of universal jurisdiction is therefore closely linked to the idea that some international norms are erga omnes,or owed to the entire world community,as well as to the concept of jus cogens –that certain international law obligations are binding on all states.
International criminal law (ICL) is a body of public international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetration. The core crimes under international law are genocide,war crimes,crimes against humanity,and the crime of aggression.
The International Criminal Court has The International Criminal Court has opened investigations in Afghanistan,the Central African Republic,Côte d'Ivoire,Darfur in Sudan,the Democratic Republic of the Congo,Kenya,Libya,Uganda,Bangladesh/Myanmar,Palestine,the Philippines,and Venezuela. Additionally,the Office of the Prosecutor conducted preliminary examinations in situations in Bolivia,Colombia,Guinea,Iraq / the United Kingdom,Nigeria,Georgia,Honduras,South Korea,Ukraine and Venezuela. Preliminary investigations were closed in Gabon;Honduras;registered vessels of Comoros,Greece,and Cambodia;South Korea;and Colombia on events since 1 July 2002.
The states parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court are those sovereign states that have ratified,or have otherwise become party to,the Rome Statute. The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court,an international court that has jurisdiction over certain international crimes,including genocide,crimes against humanity,and war crimes that are committed by nationals of states parties or within the territory of states parties. States parties are legally obligated to co-operate with the Court when it requires,such as in arresting and transferring indicted persons or providing access to evidence and witnesses. States parties are entitled to participate and vote in proceedings of the Assembly of States Parties,which is the Court's governing body. Such proceedings include the election of such officials as judges and the Prosecutor,the approval of the Court's budget,and the adoption of amendments to the Rome Statute.
Ahmed Mohammed Haroun is one of five Sudanese men wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Despite international pressure on the government of Sudan to surrender him to the ICC,Haroun served as Sudan's Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs until May 2009,when he was appointed to the governorship of South Kordofan. In September 2007,he was appointed to lead an investigation into human rights violations in Darfur. In July 2013 he resigned as Governor of South Kordofan,and was reappointed by Omar al-Bashir as Governor of North Kordofan. On 1 March 2019,President Omar al-Bashir handed over the running of the country's leading political party,the National Congress,to him. He was arrested in April 2019 by local authorities in Sudan following a coup which overthrew al-Bashir.
The International Criminal Court's founding treaty,the Rome Statute,provides that individuals or organizations may submit information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court. These submissions are referred to as "communications to the International Criminal Court".
Fatou Bom Bensouda is a Gambian lawyer and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC),who has served as the Gambian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since 3 August 2022.
Luis Moreno Ocampo is an Argentine lawyer who served as the first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) from 2003 to 2012. Previously,he had played a major role in Argentina's democratic transition (1983–1991).
The International Criminal Court investigation in Uganda or the situation in Uganda is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency which has been taking place in northern Uganda and neighbouring regions since 1987. The Lord's Resistance Army is a Christian-based group led by Joseph Kony that is accused of numerous human rights violations and war crimes including massacres,the abduction of civilians,the use of child soldiers,sexual enslavement,torture,and pillaging. After the government of Uganda referred the matter to the ICC in December 2003,warrants of arrest were issued in 2005 for Joseph Kony,Raska Lukwiya,Okot Odhiambo,Dominic Ongwen,and Vincent Otti,who became the first people to be indicted by the Court.
The International Criminal Court investigation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the Second Congo War and its aftermath,including the Ituri and Kivu conflicts. The war started in 1998 and despite a peace agreement between combatants in 2003,conflict continued in the eastern parts of the country for several years. In April 2004 the government of the DRC formally referred the situation in the Congo to the International Criminal Court,and in June 2004,prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo,formally opened an investigation. To date,arrest warrants have been issued for:
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is the officer of the International Criminal Court whose duties include the investigation and prosecution of the crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court,namely genocide,crimes against humanity and war crimes as well as the crime of aggression.
Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was a member of Ansar Dine,a Tuareg Islamist militia in North Africa. Al-Mahdi admitted guilt in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2016 for the war crime of attacking religious and historical buildings in the Malian city of Timbuktu. Al-Mahdi was the first person convicted by the ICC for such a crime,and in general the first individual to ever be prosecuted solely on the basis of cultural crimes. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. On 25 November 2021,his sentence was commuted to 7 years in prison,and he was released on 18 September 2022.
A preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to analyze possible crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela is currently open. A preliminary examination was previously opened in 2006,but closed after concluding that the requirements to start an investigation had not been met. In February 2018,the ICC announced that it would open preliminary probes into alleged crimes against humanity performed by Venezuelan authorities since at least April 2017. In 2020,the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC stated that it believed there was a "reasonable basis" to believe that "since at least April 2017,civilian authorities,members of the armed forces and pro-government individuals have committed the crimes against humanity",and on 2021 ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced the opening of an investigation regarding the situation in the country.
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC),Fatou Bensouda,on 20 December 2019 announced an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed in Palestine by members of the Israeli military or Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups since 13 June 2014.
The International Criminal Court investigation in Ukraine or the Situation in Ukraine is an ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into "any past and present allegations of war crimes,crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person" during the period starting "from 21 November 2013 onwards",on an "open-ended basis",covering the Revolution of Dignity,the Russo-Ukrainian War including the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia,the war in Donbas and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ICC prosecutor commenced these investigations on 2 March 2022,after receiving referrals for the situation in Ukraine from 39 ICC State Parties.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine violated international law. The invasion has also been called a crime of aggression under international criminal law,and under some countries' domestic criminal codes –including those of Ukraine and Russia –although procedural obstacles exist to prosecutions under these laws.
The International Criminal Court opened a proprio motu investigation in the Situation in Georgia on 27 January 2016 to look into war crimes and crimes against humanity that may have occurred in and around South Ossetia in the context of an international armed conflict between Georgia and Russia between 1 July and 10 October 2008. The investigation phase was announced to have been completed on 16 December 2022. In the course of it,the three high-ranking officials in the Russian-backed South Ossetian government —remaining at large as of the time of the announcement —were subjected to arrest warrants for crimes committed against Georgian civilians. The fourth suspect,a senior Russian general,was not indicted as he had died in 2021.
On 17 March 2023,following an investigation of war crimes,crimes against humanity and genocide,the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin,the President of Russia,and Maria Lvova-Belova,Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights,alleging responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children during the Russo-Ukrainian War. The warrant against Putin is the first against the leader of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.