(The Hague) – The new prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) should seize opportunities to strengthen the court’s justice for victims, Human Rights Watch said today. Karim Khan, the third prosecutor of the court, will be sworn on June 16, 2021, beginning a nine-year term after his election by ICC member countries.
Khan, a British national, was Legal Adviser in the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. He has also been defense counsel in various cases before the ICC, the Yugoslav court and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He was most recently the head of the United Nations Security Council-mandated investigation into crimes committed by the extremist armed group Islamic State (also known as ISIS) in Iraq. He succeeds Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian national, who had served as court prosecutor since 2012.
“The decision of the outgoing ICC prosecutor to call for an investigation of Afghanistan and to go ahead with an investigation of Palestine, despite intense political pressure, has strengthened the independence of the office,” said Liz Evenson, deputy director of international justice at Human Rights Watch. “Karim Khan should build on the efforts of his predecessor to ensure that those primarily responsible for serious crimes are held to account, regardless of their power or position.
Bensouda’s tenure was marked by decisive efforts to expand the reach of the Court around the world to deal with serious international crimes. In addition to Afghanistan and Palestine, during his tenure, the prosecutor’s office opened investigations in Bangladesh / Myanmar, Burundi, Georgia and Mali, as well as a second investigation in the Central African Republic, and announced that the situations in Nigeria, the Philippines and Ukraine merits further investigation. The prosecutor persevered in opening up the situations in Afghanistan and Palestine in the face of a hostile campaign by the former US administration, including financial sanctions against the prosecutor and another senior tribunal official, to thwart the scrutiny by the court of allegations of abuse by US and Israeli nationals.
Human Rights Watch calls on the new prosecutor to preserve the independence and impartiality of the prosecutor’s office, while prioritizing increasing the resources needed to carry out the court’s mandate. The 123 member countries of the Court finance its budget and have limited it to more or less zero growth since 2017, despite an increased workload. This hampered the progress of investigations, and Bensouda cited the funding problem as one of the factors affecting his decision to delay seeking formal investigations in Ukraine and Nigeria.
Khan can also increase the efficiency of the tribunal by following up on a continuous review of court performance aimed at strengthening the ICC’s delivery of justice, Human Rights Watch said. Member countries, with the support of the leadership of the Court, ordered a see again by a group of independent experts. This follows disappointing setbacks in several cases as well as other shortcomings in the court’s performance. The experts made a number of recommendations to the Office of the Prosecutor to strengthen investigations and ensure a more strategic assessment and conduct of its work in a given situation.
Human Rights Watch intends to release early reflections on the experts’ recommendations on some key issues for the Office of the Prosecutor in the near future. The new prosecutor and his team are expected to assess these and other recommendations.
Khan will submit a slate of candidates to ICC member countries for the December election of the deputy prosecutor. The independent expert review found incidents of harassment and bullying in court, especially within the Office of the Prosecutor. Khan said his engagement ensure a safe workplace for all staff. It should ensure that member countries put in place a thorough, best-practice process for examining deputy prosecutor candidates, including for past allegations of professional misconduct in the workplace.
“Member countries must change their approach to the ICC, otherwise financial and political pressures could seriously limit the reach of the court and cut off victims’ access to justice,” Evenson said. “Khan should urge member countries to increase the budget to meet the urgent needs of the court while providing a vision to the prosecutor’s office that ensures meaningful execution of the court’s mandate in different country situations.
