Karim Khan, ICC Prosecutor Since 2021, Explained In 2016 How The ICC's Prosecution, Investigative Focus Are Flawed – This Ship Is 'Not Seaworthy'; International Investigations Are Serious Business, Should Not Be Conducted In The Glare Of The CNN, BBC, Al-Jazeera News Cycle

On May 20, 2024, International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, who has held this position since 2021, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview that he will file for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant "for crimes of causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supply, [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict."[1] Three months later, on August 24, Khan urged the ICC to issue the warrants.[2]

Karim Khan. Source: MEMRI TV

It is noteworthy, however, that in 2013, Khan co-authored a 43-page academic essay titled "Defensive Practices: Representing Clients Before the International Criminal Court" in which he harshly criticized the ICC prosecution for its low standards of proof, for its reliance on anonymous testimonies that lack coherence, for its susceptibility to bias due to outside pressures and public opinion, for flaws in its due process, and for depriving defendants of basic legal rights – all of which he said lead to miscarriages of justice.[3]

In addition, in a 2016 interview on KTN News Kenya, Khan told interviewer Jeff Koinange that that the ICC is not "seaworthy," that it needs to be "repaired significantly," and that, like with an alcoholic, the first step is to accept that there's a problem. He said that there's a problem in the investigative process of the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), and that international investigations are "serious business" that should not be conducted in the glare of the CNN, BBC World, and Al-Jazeera news cycle – which he said is a "recipe for disaster."

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