NETHERLANDS. Hague: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has appointed Karim Khan, a British prominent Human Rights lawyer as its chief prosecutor.
ICC nations elected Khan in New York during a second round of voting after they had earlier failed to reach a consensus.
Khan has replaced Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian descent, who fell out with the Trump administration after she had launched investigations into Afghanistan conflict and the Palestine Israeli conflict
The Trump administration froze her assets and imposed a travel ban. But the Biden administration has taken a soft stance on the matter.
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Hence the first task for Khan, aged 50 will be to investigate the Afghan war crimes, some allegedly perpetrated by US soldiers.
Who is Karim Khan?
He has been a British barrister for 28 years and a Queens counsel since 2018. A part time judge for the Crown Court of England and Wales, Khan served as Assistant Secretary General to the United Nations.
The UN International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia appointed him Legal Advisor.
Khan has also acted as Lead counsel for minority victims in Sierra Leone, Kenya and Liberia.
In Kenya, Mr. Khan is remembered for representing the country’s current deputy president, William Ruto and former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura, when the two were facing charges of crimes against humanity relating to the 2007/8 post-election violence in which more than a thousand people had been killed.
At the time, Khan was defending Rutto and Muthaura against the then ICC prosecutor, Argentine Louis Moreno Ocampo, and later against Fatou Bensouda, who succeeded Ocampo after the end of his term.
Mr Khan won after garnering 72 votes in the second round of voting, leading to him defeat Irishman Fergal Gaynor who scored 42 votes.
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