Karim Ahmad Khan
Karim Ahmad Khan | |
---|---|
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court | |
Assumed office 16 June 2021 | |
President | Piotr Hofmański Tomoko Akane |
Deputy | Mame Mandiaye Niang and Nazhat Shameem |
Preceded by | Fatou Bensouda |
Personal details | |
Born | Karim Asad Ahmad Khan 30 March 1970 Edinburgh, Scotland |
Relatives | Imran Ahmad Khan (brother) |
Education | King's College London (LLB, AKC) Wolfson College, Oxford |
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 a United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and acted as Special Adviser and Head of the United Nations Investigative Team 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.
In February 2021, Khan was elected the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Education and early career
Karim Ahmad Khan was born in
International law career
Between 1997 and 1998, Khan worked as a Legal Officer at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He later served as Legal Adviser at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) until 2000.[4]
Between 2006 and 2007, Khan was lead defence counsel to former President of Liberia Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).[4][5]
Khan spent several years engaged in leading cases at the
Khan represented a group of Anglophone human rights lawyers charged with terrorism and other offences before the Military Court in
Also in 2017, 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. Khan said that "Certain historical injustices need to be recognized... It's something that I feel very passionately about and it's really worthwhile."[6]
Until June 2021, Khan was based in Baghdad, Iraq, and served as Special Adviser and Head of 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).[7] 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.[8][9]
Khan met with government, religious, and community leadership across Iraq as part of his mandate at UNITAD.[10][11][12]
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
On 12 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.[13][14] He took office in June 2021, replacing the Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda.[15][5]
In September 2021, Khan resumed the investigation into crimes committed by the
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."[17] 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.[18] In response, Russia issued a warrant for Khan's arrest.[19]
During the
On 24 April 2024, Khan was sent a letter signed by 12 Republican U.S. senators[a] threatening him and other UN jurists and their families with personal consequences if the ICC were to seek an international arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu or other members of the Israeli government. The letter cited the American Service-Members' Protection Act – known informally as "The Hague Invasion Act"[27] – which specifically includes "all means".[28][29] The signatories said they would view any arrest warrant as "a threat not only to Israel's sovereignty, but also to the sovereignty of the United States". They threatened: "Target Israel and we will target you", and that any further action would "end all American support for the ICC" and "exclude [Khan and his associates and employees] and their families from the United States". The letter ended: "You have been warned."[30]
On 20 May 2024, on the advice of a panel of ICC experts,[b] Khan applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. He also applied for arrest warrants for two other Hamas members, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed al-Masri, and the Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant.[32][33] President of the United States Joe Biden called the application "outrageous", while Netanyahu called Khan one of the "great antisemites in modern times" after the announcement.[34][35] Both accusations were rebuffed by Kenneth Roth.[36]
Other activities
Between 1996 and 1997, Khan was a member of staff at the
Khan served until 2018 as a member of the executive council and the victims committee of the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA), 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.[38]
Khan was appointed
Personal life
Khan's father, a consultant dermatologist, was born in Mardan, Pakistan.[40] His mother, a state registered nurse, was born in the United Kingdom.[41] Khan is a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.[42][43] He was first married to Yasmin Rehman Mona, the daughter of the fourth caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Tahir Ahmad. He is currently married to Dato Shyamala Alagendra, a Malaysian lawyer. He has two sons. He has a sister and two brothers,[40] one of whom is the former British Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan.[44]
Notes
- ^ The letter was signed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as well as Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Katie Britt of Alabama, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Ted Cruz of Texas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina.[26]
- ^ Convened by Khan, the panel comprised, among others, Lord Justice Fulford, Helena, Baroness Kennedy, Judge Theodor Meron, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Amal Clooney and Marko Milanović. It concluded that that the Court had jurisdiction over the case and that there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that individuals named in the arrest warrants had committed war crimes or crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the Court.[31]
References
- ^ "Khan, Karim Asad Ahmad, (born 30 March 1970), QC 2011; barrister; a Recorder, since 2018; Chief Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, since 2021." Who's Who & Who Was Who. 1 Dec. 2011
- ^ "British barrister to lead UN probe into ISIS crimes in Iraq". Rudaw. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- ^ "Karim A. A. Khan KC". Temple Garden Chambers. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d "ICC: New chief prosecutor divides opinions in Africa". Deutsche Welle. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Simons, Marlise (20 May 2024). "Who Is Karim Khan, the I.C.C. Prosecutor?". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ a b Migiro, Katy (30 May 2017). "British lawyer shines light on 'dark shadows' of colonial evictions". Reuters. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ "S/RES/2379 : UN Documents : Security Council Report". www.securitycouncilreport.org. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "Mr. Karim Asad Ahmad Khan of the United Kingdom - Special Adviser of the Investigative Team established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017) | United Nations Secretary-General". www.un.org. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "U.N. team, approved a year ago, starts work on Islamic State crimes in Iraq". Reuters. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Mr. Karim A.A. Khan QC, Special Adviser and Head of UNITAD meets with His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani". www.uniraq.org. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "المجمع الفقهي العراقي" [Iraqi Fiqh Council]. www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "وفد من الأمم المتحدة يزور البطريركية" [A delegation from the United Nations visits the Patriarchate]. البطريركية الكلدانية (in Arabic). Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "British barrister Karim Khan elected ICC's new chief prosecutor". the Guardian. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
- ^ "British human rights lawyer elected chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court". UN News. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Newly elected ICC Prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan QC to be sworn in on 16 June 2021: Practical information". www.icc-cpi.int. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ Stéphanie Maupas (28 September 2021). "The ICC prosecutor suspends the investigation into torture in secret CIA prisons". Le Monde. Retrieved 29 September 2021..
- ^ "Crime scene' call Court". BBC News. 13 April 2022.
- ^ Borger, Julian (13 March 2023). "ICC to issue first arrest warrants linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
- ^ "Russia adds ICC prosecutor who sought Putin's arrest to wanted list". Reuters. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Why Israel's push into Gaza is killing so many children". Business Insider. 31 October 2023.
- ^ Khan, Karim (10 November 2023). "We are witnessing a pandemic of inhumanity: to halt the spread, we must cling to the law". The Guardian.
- ^ "Israel is committing war crimes in Palestinian territories, five nations charge". The Jerusalem Post. 17 November 2023.
- ^ "South Africa alleges Israel violating ruling to prevent Gaza deaths". The Hill. 1 February 2024.
- Wikidata Q125585705. Archived from the originalon 24 April 2024.
- ^ "Israel council discusses avoiding ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant, Halevi". Middle East Monitor. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000018f-4e0e-d759-a9ff-ff4ee9420000
- ^ Taylor, Adam (16 March 2023). "The United States and ICC have an awkward history". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ Republican US senators sent threatening letter to ICC prosecutor over possible Netanyahu arrest warrant In: jurist.org, 6. Mai 2024
- ^ Anklage gegen Israel: US-Senatoren bedrohen Chefankläger des Strafgerichtshofes In: telepolis.de, 7 May 2024
- ^ Republican US senators sent threatening letter to ICC prosecutor over possible Netanyahu arrest warrant In: jurist.org, 6 May 2024
- ^ Amal Clooney and Marko Milanović, 'Panel of Experts Publishes Report Supporting ICC Arrest Warrant Applications for Crimes in Israel and Palestine,' European Journal of International Law 20 May 2024.
- ^ Kingsley, Patrick; Bigg, Matthew Mpoke (20 May 2024). "International Criminal Court Prosecutor Requests Warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas Leaders". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ "Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine". www.icc-cpi.int. 20 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ Netanyahu, Benjamin (20 May 2024). "Statement by PM Netanyahu". Prime Minister's Office. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ Bowen, Jeremy (21 May 2024). "What ICC arrest warrants mean for Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ Kenneth Roth, 'Why is the west defending Israel after the ICC requested Netanyahu’s arrest warrant?,' The Guardian 20 May 2024:'Using the common last resort for defenders of Israel, Netanyahu accused Khan of “callously pouring gasoline on the fires of antisemitism that are raging across the world”, claiming that “Khan takes his place among the great antisemites in modern times”. This is rich from an Israeli leader who has had no trouble embracing an antisemite – the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán – when it serves him. It also endangers Jews around the world, because if people see the charge of antisemitism as a thin cover for Israeli war crimes, it will cheapen the concept at a time when a strong defense is needed.'
- ^ "PJI Directors - Peace and Justice Initiative". www.peaceandjusticeinitiative.org. 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "ICCBA-ABCPI | Welcome - Bienvenue". Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ Karim Khan: Curriculum Vitae
- ^ .
- ^ Rehan, Ehsan (1 June 2018). "British-Pakistani lawyer to lead UN investigation against ISIS". Rabwah Times. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- Feria-Tinta, Monica; Khan, Karim (2 July 2021). "Laws of humanity: Karim Khan QC". Counsel. Archived from the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2024. "This is the full version of Monica Feria-Tinta's interview with Karim Khan QC; an abridged version appeared in the July 2021 print issue of Counsel magazine.")
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ Khan, Karim (23 February 2006). "My Life With Hazur" (PDF). Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project. pp. 78–85. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 February 2006. Retrieved 23 February 2006.
- ^ Gye, Hugo (18 June 2021). "Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan faces trial over claim he sexually assaulted a teenage boy". I (newspaper). Retrieved 11 April 2022.
External links
- Media related to Karim Ahmad Khan at Wikimedia Commons
- Quotations related to Karim Ahmad Khan at Wikiquote