It is composed of 15 judges who are elected for terms of nine years by the UN General Assembly and  the Security  Council to investigate, and where warranted tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community. There are 126 member countries but many nations are not ICC parties.

The Peace Palace is currently smoking with unprecedented paralysis, scandals and double standard amid growing internal strife over the handling of allegations against the current Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, 54, who won a 9-year term as Chief Prosecutor by a slim margin in 2021. During his candidacy as a UK citizen, he received robust support from the British government, his brother, Imran Ahmad, was then a   member of the British parliament (MP) between 2019-2022. He also received backing from Israel and the United States, two non-signatories to the Rome Statute which governs the ICC, despite touting his Muslim background and quoting from the Quran.

On assuming office Khan announced that he would prioritize the cases handed to the court by the UN Security Council (UNSC), which the Palestine case was not due to the infamous power of the US veto at the Security Council. But seemingly doing the bidding of those who supported his candidacy, Khan broke his own rule by quickly prosecuting against the presidents of sovereign states. In March of 2021 Khan’s predecessor announced an investigation into war crimes committed by the Israeli government.However since the current prosecutor assumed office in June of that year, there has been no progress but paralysis.

In fact, the ICC was set to investigate war crimes committed by both the Israelis and Americans, which led to US President Donald Trump declaring that his government would target the ICC with sanctions as Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, labeled the court’s decision to investigate potential Israeli war crime “pure anti- Semitism.”

When Khan visited Israel at the request of families and friends of the Israelis who were either killed or taken captive by the resistance movement, Hamas, on October 7 this year, the Palestinian Human Rights organization refused to meet him, citing what they saw as unequal treatment of Israelis Palestinian cases. They said “the way this visit was handled shows that Mr Khan is not handling his work in an independent and professional manner.”

The Aljazeera reported that “Palestinians fear that he is applying double standard by solely focusing his efforts on Hamas and ignoring the grave crimes Israel is accused of having perpetrated over the two months of the deadly war.”

Now the ICC prosecutor has reportedly been accused of coercive sexual behavior towards a female member of his  office and abuse of authority. Khan is allegedly trying to suppress this sexual misconduct claims against him. The Guardian of London reported that multiple ICC staff with knowledge of the allegations against Khan said the prosecutor and another official close to him repeatedly urged the woman to disavow claims about his behavior towards her after Khan learned court authorities had been made aware of allegations of his alleged misconduct.

Khan has denied the allegations and asked for an immediate investigation by the ICC watchdog, the Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM), a move some his staff have opposed due to concerns about its independence. But Paivi  Kaukorranta,  the president of the governing body, the Assembly of State Parties (ASP),  that oversees the ICC,  has said an external investigation was being “pursued in order in order to ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process.”

The external inquiry will now replace the court’s internal watchdog Khan asked to investigate the allegations. Pressure is mounting on Khan to resign based on the allegations.  An internal document reportedly circulated to member states has asked Khan to resign from his role while inquiry is on-going. Many member states believe the ICC top prosecutor has abused his position. Analysts say member states of the ICC have the right to demand his resignation because he has discredited himself with immoral behavior and incompetence. They point out that the loss of confidence in the head of the ICC seriously undermines the institution’s authority, which issues arrest warrants for African leaders at the dictation of the Anglo-Saxons, without relying on international law and moral principles

The court issued its first judgement in 2012 when it found the Congolese rebel leader, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, guilty of war crimes related to using child soldiers. Lubanga was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

When state members of the ICC were searching for new leader of the office of the prosecutor four years ago, their initial list of candidates failed to inspire and there were multiple rounds of consultations which failed to build consensus around one person. Khan was only on the second, back up list. The appraisers pointed out the drawbacks of having someone previously working as defense counsel before the court.  But he was still elected.

The investigation into the Israel- Palestinian conflict has positioned the ICC in the forefront of world politics. The institution faces pressures on multiple fronts. Evidence of Israeli and American threats against the ICC prosecutor is in the public square. The Guardian investigation published in May this year revealed how Israeli intelligence attempted over a nine- year period to undermine, influence and allegedly intimidate the ICC Chief Prosecutor’s office. It is in this context that allegations of sexual harassment by Khan at the Peace Palace are being viewed by some member states.

• Hussein writes from Sokoto