War crimes court calls for an end to the intimidation of its staff by Israelis!

 

Karim Khan - ICC Chief Prosecutor

Karim Khan QC, the international criminal courts (ICC) chief prosecutor, is seeking arrest warrants for both leaders of Hamas and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Although Israel doesn't recognise the authority of the ICC, Khan has faced intense criticism from supporters of Israel over the applications and he's now been accused of misconduct towards a member of his office. Karim Khan said: "There is no truth to suggestions of such misconduct. I have worked in diverse contexts for 30 years and there has never been such a complaint lodged against me by anyone." He confirmed that he would be willing to provide any information needed by the independent oversight mechanism (IOM).

In statement made by the English QC, Khan made reference to the attacks he has faced over the arrest warrants he has sought for Israeli leaders as well as a Guardian investigation published in May, that disclosed how Israeli intelligence over a nine-year period, attempted to undermine, influence and intimidate, the ICC chief prosecutor's office. According to the Guardian and the Israeli based magazine +972 and Local Call, Israeli intelligence waged a decade-long secret 'war' against the court to undertake surveillance to hack, pressure, smear, and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the court's inquiries. It was claimed that Israeli intelligence intercepted the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, from Gambia.

It has been claimed that the former head of Mossad, Yossi Cohen, initiated at least three meetings with Bensouda between 2019-21, including one meeting where he allegedly told the prosecutor,"You should help us and let us take care of you. You don't want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family." According to press reports, he also allegedly suggested to Bensouda that a full investigation into war crimes by Israel, "would harm her career, and showed her copies of photos that had covertly been taken of her husband."

The Guardian reported that Cohen did not respond to a request for a comment and Bensouda declined to comment on the reporting. A spokesman for the Israeli government told the newspaper that the report was "replete with many false and unfounded allegations meant to hurt the state of Israel."

The Trump administration imposed sanctions including visa restrictions against Bensouda, between 2019-20 allegedly in retaliation for a separate war crimes probe into Afghanistan. Mike Pompeo, the then Secretary of State, suggested that the sanctions were imposed because the ICC was "putting Israel in (its) crosshairs.”