The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has been removed from office following a vote by 125 contracting states last Friday. Multiple media outlets and diplomats have confirmed this exceptional move, citing accusations of sexual harassment as the reason for the dismissal. Khan has, however, denied these charges. He had placed his position on hiatus starting in May 2025.
The ICC itself had previously been instrumental in issuing arrest warrants on Khan’s initiative. In March 2023, the court issued warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova. Later, in May 2024, Khan applied for warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahou, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, and Hamas officials Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyya. A request for a warrant against Myanmar’s ruler, General Min Aung Hlaing, followed in November of the same year.
Meanwhile, the government of U.S. President Donald Trump has been taking action against the ICC since August 2025, particularly focusing on the warrant issued against Netanyahou. Several judges and prosecutors have been placed on a U.S. sanctions list. Because U.S. persons or companies are prohibited from doing business with the listed parties, consequences have included the freezing of bank accounts and denial of access to U.S. software. Most recently, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in a post for the “Wall Street Journal” that the ICC would be “dismantled-if necessary, stone by stone.”
