(SeaPRwire) –   By: Julian Holbrooke

Karim Khan’s suspension doesn’t just end a controversial tenure at the ICC’s helm. It rips open the deep rot critics have long accused the court of harboring. He spent months pushing for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former defense minister Gallant, drawing fury from Israel and the U.S. Now his own alleged sexual misconduct has turned the court’s internal rules against its top prosecutor.

Official court statements frame the suspension as a standard disciplinary process. It follows an 18-month probe into allegations Khan engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity with a subordinate lawyer. The UN’s internal oversight body found evidence supporting the claims, while a separate judicial review ruled the evidence did not meet the beyond a reasonable doubt standard. The Assembly of States Parties Bureau still voted to suspend him and recommend his permanent removal. The case now goes to a special session of the full 125-member assembly for a final ruling.

The ICC’s public statements tout the court as one of humanity’s greatest achievements, and insist it remains committed to impartial proceedings. But it’s impossible to separate Khan’s suspension from the geopolitical firestorm around his work targeting Israeli officials. The Trump administration sanctioned Khan in February 2025 over the arrest warrants, which were formally issued in November 2024. Israeli officials immediately seized on the suspension to demand the warrants against Netanyahu be thrown out, calling the entire court “rotten to the core.”

The ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant are effectively dead, no matter the final outcome of Khan’s disciplinary proceedings.

Author bio: Julian Holbrooke, an international relations analyst who regularly contributes op-eds to leading European daily newspapers.