A view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (Peter Dejong/AP)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — When the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor this year sought to indict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for actions in Gaza, he was engulfed in an entirely different personal crisis unfolding behind the scenes.

Karim Khan faced allegations that for more than a year he tried to force a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her against her will. He has categorically denied the allegations, saying there is no truth to suggestions of misconduct. Court officials have said they may have been done as part of an Israeli intelligence campaign.

Two staff members the woman confided in at ICC headquarters in The Hague reported the alleged misconduct in early May to the court’s independent watchdog, which says it interviewed the woman and closed its investigation after five days when she chose not to file a formal complaint . . Khan himself was never questioned.

But the matter may not be over.

While the woman declined to comment to The Associated Press, people close to her say her initial reluctance was fueled by distrust of the internal watchdog, and she has asked the body of member states that oversees the ICC to launch an external investigation. An ICC official with knowledge of the case who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity confirmed that the request is still under consideration.

Those efforts were applauded by those close to the woman, who still works at the court.

“This was not a one-time advance or an arm around the shoulder that could be subject to misinterpretation,” one of the people told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect the woman’s identity. “It was a pervasive, repeated pattern of behavior carried out over a long period of time.”

Although the court’s watchdog could not determine wrongdoing, it urged Khan in a memo to minimize contact with the woman to protect the rights of all involved and protect the court’s integrity.

Within days of the watchdog dropping the case, the court’s work continued. Khan on May 20 sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders accused of war crimes. A three-judge panel is now considering that request.

US President Joe Biden’s administration said it was blindsided by the move, with the president calling the indictment “outrageous” for implying an equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

In announcing the charges, Khan suggested that outside forces were waging a campaign to derail his investigation.

“I insist that any attempt to obstruct, intimidate or improperly influence the officers of this court must cease immediately,” Khan said, adding that he would not hesitate to use his authority to investigate anyone suspected of obstructing justice.

The accusations

The AP compiled details of the allegations through whistleblower documents shared with the court’s independent watchdog and interviews with eight ICC officials and people close to the woman. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the allegations or fear of reprisals.

Among the allegations told to the AP is that Khan noticed the woman working in another department at the ICC and moved her into his office, a transfer that included a pay bump. Their time together reportedly increased after a private dinner in London where Khan took the woman’s hand and complained about his marriage. She became a presence on official trips and meetings with dignitaries.

During one such trip, Khan allegedly asked the woman to rest with him on a hotel bed and then “sexually touched her,” according to the documents. Later, he came to her room at 3 o’clock and knocked on the door for 10 minutes.

Other alleged non-consensual behavior cited in the documents included locking the door to his office and putting his hand in her pocket. He also allegedly asked her on several occasions to go on holiday together.

Returning to ICC headquarters after a trip, she tearfully complained to two associates about Khan’s behavior and the anguish she felt at not standing up to a boss she once admired.

Those coworkers were shocked because Khan always seemed to display exemplary behavior around women and has been outspoken against gender-based crimes. They also weighed the allegations against the backdrop of high-profile attempts by intelligence officials from Israel and elsewhere to penetrate the court, creating a working environment plagued by intrigue and mistrust.

But in the wake of the #MeToo movement, no powerful man is above scrutiny, and co-workers followed the court’s workplace guidelines that encouraged reporting of officer misconduct.

After months of inaction and whispered rumors of a brewing scandal, an anonymous account on X called @ICC_Leaks last week began addressing some of the allegations.

Israel’s allies in the US Congress have also seized on the potential scandal. Late. Lindsey Graham is seeking information on whether the misconduct allegations played a role in Khan’s decision in May to cancel an aide’s planned visit to Israel and move forward with the war crimes charges.

“Another cloud — a moral one — hangs over Prosecutor Khan’s sudden decision to abandon engagement with Israel and seek warrants,” the South Carolina Republican wrote in a letter to the court’s watchdog.

Khan, who is 54 and married with two children, said in a statement that there was “no truth” to the allegations and that in 30 years of scandal-free investigative work, he has always stood with victims of sexual harassment and abuse.

Khan added that he would be willing, if asked, to cooperate with any investigation, saying it was important that all allegations “be carefully listened to, scrutinized and given due process.”

Without directly naming any entity, he noted that both he and the court have been the targets of “a wide range of attacks and threats” in recent months, some also targeting his wife and family. Khan’s office declined to provide details because the incidents are under investigation.

A growing list of enemies

Under Khan, the ICC has become more assertive in combating crimes against humanity, war crimes and related atrocities. Along the way, it has added a growing list of enemies.

Last September, following the launch of an investigation into Russian atrocities in Ukraine, the court was hit by a debilitating cyber attack that left staff unable to work for weeks. It also hired an intern who was later accused of being a Russian spy in the United States.

Israel has also been waging its own lobbying campaign ever since the ICC admitted Palestine as a member and in 2015 opened a preliminary investigation into what the court called “the situation in the State of Palestine.”

London newspaper The Guardian and several Israeli news outlets reported this summer that over the past decade, Israel’s intelligence services allegedly targeted senior ICC staff, including putting Khan’s predecessors under surveillance and showing up at her house with envelopes filled with cash to discredit her.

Netanyahu himself, in the days leading up to Khan’s announcement of war crimes charges, urged the world’s democracies to “use every means at their disposal” to block the court from what he called an “outrage of historic proportions.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry referred the AP’s inquiries about the case to the Prime Minister’s Office, which did not respond. The US State Department declined to discuss the matter but said in a statement that it “takes all allegations of sexual harassment seriously, and we expect the court to do the same.”

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several lawmakers in the Netherlands have called for an investigation into whether the Israeli embassy has conducted covert activities against the ICC.

Who is Khan?

Khan, a British international lawyer, had a long history of defending some of the world’s most ruthless strongmen – including former Liberian president Charles Taylor and the son of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi – before being elected chief prosecutor in a secret ballot in 2021. .

The Rome Statute that established the court came into force in 2002, with the mandate to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide – but only when domestic courts fail to open their own investigations. Neither the United States, Israel, nor Russia are among the 124 member states that recognize the court’s authority, although their nationals can be prosecuted for crimes committed in countries that are members of the ICC.

Still, Washington welcomed Khan’s election, particularly after he moved to “de-prioritize” an investigation launched by his predecessor into abuses by US military personnel in Afghanistan.

Khan also broadened the court’s focus, prosecuting individuals outside Africa for the first time. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of kidnapping children in Ukraine and launched an investigation into Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for his crackdown on protesters.

“He is by far the most professional lawyer the court has had in its short history,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch. “He is articulate, sophisticated with the media and has extensive courtroom experience with the highest evidentiary standards.”

But Khan’s reputation with the US crashed when he announced he was seeking the arrest of Netanyahu and Israel’s defense minister for war crimes including starvation of civilians.

To insulate himself from attacks that he had an anti-Israel bias, Khan, a practicing Muslim whose father migrated to Britain from Pakistan, shared the evidence with a panel of experts including British human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, wife of actor George Clooney.

“Extreme fear” of reporting misconduct

Although the 900-staff ICC has long had a “zero-tolerance” policy against sexual harassment, an external review of the court’s inner workings in 2020 found an unacceptable level of predatory behavior by male managers, a lack of women in senior positions, and inadequate mechanisms to address complaints and protect whistleblowers.

“There is a general reluctance, if not extreme fear, among many employees to report alleged misconduct or misconduct” by a senior official, the review concluded. “The perception is that they are all immune.”

Although the ICC’s policy has been updated since the report, there is no express ban on romantic relationships as there is in many American workplaces. And while elected officials like Khan are expected to demonstrate “high moral character,” there is no definition of “serious misconduct” that would warrant removal.

International organizations, such as the ICC, are some of the last places where men in positions of power treat the organization as their “playgrounds,” said Sarah Martin, a gender equality expert who has consulted for several UN agencies.

“There are so many complaints that are not even investigated because there is a perception that senior officials are protecting each other,” she said.

People close to Khan’s accusers say investigators from the court’s watchdog — known as the Independent Oversight Mechanism — appeared for an interview on Sunday and asked for intimate details about her relationship with Khan as her children listened. With no emotional support and wary of the process, she decided not to file a complaint at that moment.

In the weeks since, she has decided to move up the chain of command and reach out to the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, which oversees the court and has the ultimate say on Khan’s future.

Paivi Kaukoranta, a Finnish diplomat who currently serves as chairman of that body, did not comment specifically when asked if it had opened a new investigation.

But in a statement, she asked people to respect the integrity and confidentiality of the process, “including any additional measures where necessary.”

Goodman reported from Miami. Quell and Mike Corder in The Hague, Edith Lederer and Jim Mustian in New York, Matthew Lee in Washington and Jack Jeffery in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed. Contact AP’s global investigative team at [email protected]