Weeks after the ruling ‘Bureau’ of the International Criminal Court (ICC) changed its voting rules to please the US and Israel, and stitch up its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan has been removed from his role.

The removal was voted through despite expert lawyers unanimously clearing Khan of wrongdoing in connection to alleged sexual misconduct with a junior colleague, which he has denied.

It is the first time in ICC history that a prosecutor has been removed. Meanwhile, Israel has boasted of its role in him being ousted.

Khan has said he will appeal the decision.

ICC top prosecutor pursued war criminals

Khan lost his role after a sustained pressure campaign by the US and Israel after Khan obtained arrest warrants for wanted Israeli war criminals, Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister, Yo’av Gallant, for crimes in Gaza.

Netanyahu has now claimed that Khan issued the arrest warrants to distract from the misconduct allegations, which the Canary has written about here. However, the warrant process considerably pre-dates any allegations against Khan.

The prosecutor and his family also faced physical threats from supporters of Israel and financial sanctions from the US.

Khan’s lawyers were not allowed to address the Bureau.

Lawyers for the ICC Prosecutor have been forced to write publicly after being denied the opportunity to address the body that will decide whether to remove him. It appears that the President of the Assembly of States Parties is determined to bring the Court into disrepute by… https://t.co/FOvwPf771I

— Martin Shaw (@martinshawx) July 21, 2026

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, threatened to “dismantle” the ICC “brick by brick” if it did not cave to US demands.

The vote was held behind closed doors, so which way member states voted has not been published. However, the UN announced that 82 of the Bureau’s 125 members had backed Khan’s removal.

Retributive manoeuvres

Israel and the US have pressured and manoeuvred for Khan’s dismissal ever since he applied for war crimes arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

The Bureau is staging the latest manoeuvre despite repeated findings by independent legal experts that Khan was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Featured image via Piroschka Van De Wouw/ Reuters

By Skwawkbox

From Canary via This RSS Feed.