The 125 member states of the ICC are represented on the ASP, but the ASP bureau is an executive committee made up of 21 members.
MEE has reported that the states on the bureau which voted to disregard the panel of judges were Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cyprus, Ecuador, Finland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia, South Korea, and Switzerland.
Khan’s future as prosecutor may ultimately be decided by a vote of ICC member states.
The event will mark Khan‘s first public address since he went on extended leave last May pending the outcome of a United Nations investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him, all of which he has denied.
Last month, MEE reported that a panel of judges appointed by the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), the ICC’s governing body, to review the UN investigation had concluded it had not established any „misconduct or breach of duty“ by Khan.
But the chief prosecutor has still not returned to his duties. MEE later reported that a group of disproportionately western and European states voted at a bureau meeting to disregard the panel of judges and make their own assessment, based on the UN report.
Khan‘s legal team has called on the ASP bureau to accept the judges‘ findings and has expressed concern that „political considerations“ rather than legal process are shaping its deliberations.
Human Rights Watch has called on the government of Lebanon to “accede to the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute” and submit a declaration allowing the Court to “investigate and prosecute crimes committed in Lebanon since October 2023,” according to the organisation’s post on X.
Speaking on his administration‘s commitment to international law, Magyar confirmed his intention to keep Hungary as an active member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He noted that his legal team has thoroughly reviewed the matter and concluded that Hungary must honor its treaty commitments. „I made it clear that Hungary intends to remain a member of the International Criminal Court,“ Magyar stated, adding that if an individual under an ICC arrest warrant enters a member state’s territory, „they must be taken into custody.“
(video)
A minority of members from the bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are calling for the findings of a judges‘ report, which found no evidence of misconduct against ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, to be ignored, Middle East Eye can reveal.
MEE reported exclusively on Saturday that the court’s chief prosecutor had been cleared of any wrongdoing by a panel of three senior judges appointed by the bureau of the ASP, the ICC’s governing body, to review the findings of a United Nations investigation into complaints of alleged sexual misconduct.
(March 21, 2026)
Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, has been cleared of all wrongdoing by a panel of judges appointed to review the findings of a United Nations investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him, Middle East Eye can exclusively reveal.
The highly confidential report by the panel of three judges was submitted to the ICC’s executive oversight body, the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), on 9 March. It will not be made publicly available, and has not been seen by the majority of the court‘s 125 member states.
10. International human rights law applies concurrently with international humanitarian law, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948, to which Sudan is a state Party. International criminal law also applies, and the situation in Darfur from 1 July 2002 is subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolution 1593 ( 2005 ).
(…)
14. The Rapid Support Forces’ military campaign was reinforced by local Arab militias and allied groups, and by mercenaries reportedly deployed through foreign security firms or networks and equipped with advanced weaponry and communications systems. Witnesses described the Rapid Support Forces’ use of heavy artillery, drones and electronic warfare capabilities. The Rapid Support Forces appear to have benefited from logistical military support, in violation of the arms embargo under Security Council resolution 1593 (2005 ).
ARTICLE 3
1. Any person commits an offence if that person unlawfully and intentionally:
(a) seizes or exercises control over a ship by force or threat thereof or any other form of intimidation; or
(b) performs an act of violence against a person on board a ship if that act is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship; or
(c) destroys a ship or causes damage to a ship or to its cargo which is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship; or
(d) places or causes to be placed on a ship, by any means whatsoever, a device or
substance which is likely to destroy that ship, or cause damage to that ship or its cargo which endangers or is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship; or
(e) destroys or seriously damages maritime navigational facilities or seriously interferes with their operation, if any such act is likely to endanger the safe navigation of a ship; or
(f) communicates information which he knows to be false, thereby endangering the safe navigation of a ship; or
(g) injures or kills any person, in connection with the commission or the attempted
commission of any of the offences set forth in subparagraphs (a) to (f).
2. Any person also commits an offence if that person:
(a) attempts to commit any of the offences set forth in paragraph 1; or
(b) abets the commission of any of the offences set forth in paragraph 1 perpetrated by any person or is otherwise an accomplice of a person who commits such an offence; or
(c) threatens, with or without a condition, as is provided for under national law, aimed at compelling a physical or juridical person to do or refrain from doing any act, to commit any of the offences set forth in paragraph I, subparagraphs (b), (c) and (e), if that threat is likely to endanger the safe navigation of the ship in question.
(…)
ARTICLE 7
1. Upon being satisfied that the circumstances so warrant, any State Party in the territory of which the offender or the alleged offender is present shall, in accordance with its law, take him into custody or take other measures to ensure his presence for such time as is necessary to enable any criminal or extradition proceedings to be instituted.
2. Such State shall immediately make a preliminary inquiry into the facts, in accordance with its own legislation.
New evidence regarding the torture of Palestinian prisoners whose mutilated bodies were returned by Israel was presented at the International Criminal Court by a legal team representing the victims of the genocide in Gaza.
Al Jazeera Arabic reported that evidence regarding the targeting of journalists was added to the ongoing series of legal efforts to prosecute Israel in the International court since 2008.
According to the report, documented medical evidence was presented by doctors and forensic experts through detailed reports, photos, videos, and family testimonies.
Bereits im November 2024 hatte ein Gremium von Richtern des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs in Den Haag Haftbefehle gegen den israelischen Premierminister Benjamin Netanjahu und seinen früheren Verteidigungsminister Yoav Gallant wegen Kriegsverbrechen im Gazastreifen erlassen. Die USA und Israel erkennen den IStGH nicht an.
“This represents the first time in our records that a prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago would have proudly and publicly associated this nation with violations of international human rights of the UN Charter and International law,” he said.
Browne said the Prime Minister of T&T has continued to double down and triple down, including very recently her public stance in support of these extra-judicial killings.
He said while the US is not one of the state parties to the ICC, Trinidad and Tobago is, having been one of the founders.
קווי דמיון ביןמדיניות הקרקעות והדיור המשפיעה על פלסטינים בישראל לביןזוהחלהעל פלסטינים בגדה המערבית
הכבושה מצביעים עלקיומה של מדיניות רחבה יותר ביחס לאוכלוסייה הפלסטינית בכללותה, שנועדה להבטיח רוב יהודי
בכלל האזוריםהמצוייםתחת שליטהישראלית, תוך צמצום האפשרות להגדרה עצמית גיאוגרפית עבור העם הפלסטיני.
בדוח זוהו ששה שרים ישראליים כמי שנושאים ככל הנראה בעיקר האחריותלביצוע פשעים בינלאומיים הנוגעים לקרקעות
ודיור, כמו גם לפשעים אחרים שזוהו על-ידי הוועדה בדוחותיה הקודמים:
•שר הביטחון לשעבריואב גלנטושר הביטחון הנוכחיישראל כץנושאים באחריותלפעולותיהם של כוחות הביטחון
הישראליים בעזה;
•שר האוצרבצלאל סמוטריץ‘ושרת ההתיישבות והמשימות הלאומיותאורית סטרוקנושאים במשותף באחריות
להנעת הקמתן והרחבתן של התנחלויותבגדה המערבית הכבושה, לרבות מזרח ירושלים;
•השר לביטחון לאומיאיתמר בן-גבירנושא באחריות למעשיהתעללותשלרשויות הכליאה הישראליות בעצירים
פלסטיניים, אשר זוהו על-ידי הוועדה בדיווחה הקודםלעצרתהכללית;
•ראש הממשלהבנימין נתניהונושא באחריות הסופית להתנהלותה של ישראל בשטח הפלסטיני הכבוש בכללותו,
ובאחריות ישירהלאור הוראותיו לביצוע מעשיםהמהווים פשעי מלחמה, פשעים נגד האנושות, ופשע השמדת עם;
•ראש הממשלהנתניהוושר הביטחון לשעברגלנטנושאים גם באחריותלפשע ההסתה לביצוע השמדת עם
82. Successive Governments of Israel have implemented laws and policies to diminish Palestinian space in Israel, including confining Palestinian localities and hindering Palestinians with Israeli citizenship from moving and integrating into Jewish localities. In addition, informal barriers resulting from wider, primarily socioeconomic, inequalities between the two populations have grown and become entrenched over decades, further preventing integration.
83. Some policies and laws are explicitly discriminatory. Others have a discriminatory impact, resulting in segregation. This is evident from the “admissions committees” policy and law, as well as statements of Israeli officials’ supporting the development of exclusively non-Jewish localities to deter and prevent Palestinians with Israeli citizenship from moving into mixed cities.
84. Such discrimination in laws and policies is a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Specifically, Israel has violated article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which obliges States to ensure adequate standards of living and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions.
85. Land and housing policies impacting Palestinians in Israel are part of a broader policy towards the Palestinian population as a whole, aimed at striving towards a Jewish majority in all areas under Israeli control, reducing the possibility of geographical self-determination for the Palestinian people.
Individual criminal responsibility
86. The Commission has identified several Israeli ministers as likely bearing the most responsibility for the international crimes noted in the present report. The Ministers of Defence since October 2023, Yoav Gallant (until 7 November 2024) and subsequently Israel Katz, are responsible for actions of Israeli security forces in Gaza which amount to international crimes. The Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, and the Minister of Settlements and National Projects, Orit Strock, are jointly responsible for driving settlement construction and expansion in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is responsible for the actions of police and prison authorities noted by the Commission in its previous report to the General Assembly. The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is ultimately responsibility for the conduct of Israel in the whole of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. All six bear direct individual responsibility for establishing policies and taking actions noted in the present report that have killed and injured Palestinians, deliberately inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole or in part and deepened the unlawful presence of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including through security operations and channelling funds for settlements, farm outposts and settlement expansion.
The Commission also found that since October 2023, Israeli policies have demonstrated clear intent to forcibly transfer Palestinians, expand Jewish settlements, and annex the entire West Bank.
„Increasing violent attacks by settlers have resulted in the forcible displacement of communities and subsequent Judaization of areas of the West Bank,“ the report stated.
It also highlights military operations in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps, which resulted in destruction of homes and infrastructure and displacement of residents – actions the Commission deems unjustified militarily and tantamount to collective punishment.
(August 31, 2025)
Today, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) submitted a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the massacre at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on 25 August 2025. The attack killed 22 civilians, including five journalists, three hospital staff, one doctor, a civil defense worker, and one child, 14-year-old Rayan Omar Mahmoud Abu Omar. More than fifty others were injured in what can only be described as a deliberate double-tap strike carried out with full knowledge of the civilian presence.
(August 12, 2025)
Following the Chain of Command
When HRF investigators began reconstructing the strike, they followed the trail from the moment a drone camera locked onto Al-Sharif’s position to the instant the missile hit.
Using operational patterns, signals intelligence reports, and expert military analysis, the foundation identified the chain of command behind the killing:
– Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir – IDF Chief of the General Staff
– Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar – Commander of the Israeli Air Force
– Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor – Southern Command Commander
– Brig.-Gen. Yossi Sariel – Former Commander of Unit 8200 (Israel’s signals intelligence branch)
– General A. : Current Commander of Unit 8200
– Palmachim Airbase Commander – Name undisclosed
– “Black Snake” Squadron Commander – Name undisclosed
– Col. Avichay Adraee – IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Arab Media Division, responsible for a sustained smear campaign against Al-Sharif
At the political summit stands Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister who presided over—and encouraged—a strategy to eliminate journalists as part of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
“The direct US participation in military operations with Israeli forces means that as a matter of international law, the United States has been and currently is a party to the armed conflict in Gaza,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. “US military and intelligence personnel and contractors assisting Israeli forces who commit war crimes may at some point find themselves facing criminal prosecution for atrocities in Gaza.”
Under international humanitarian law, the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza is a non-international armed conflict. International law does not set out specific criteria for determining when a country assisting another country in a non-international armed conflict itself becomes a party to that conflict, though direct participation in combat operations is a clear example.
JOINING THE ROME STATUTE IS AN EXPRESSION OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE VICTIMS
Victims have the right to participate in the proceedings before the Court through
a legal representative. States Parties to the Rome Statute have established a Trust Fund for Victims, an independent institution through which victims and their families can receive assistance and reparations, including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation.
JOINING THE ROME STATUTE IS A POWERFUL FOREIGN POLICY STATEMENT
States Parties and the international community continue to reaffirm their commitment to the ICC. Ratifying or acceding to the Rome Statute shows commitment to international law and peace and security and strengthens the resolve of multilateral diplomacy.
JOINING THE ROME STATUTE CONTRIBUTES TO THE PREVENTION AND DETERRENCE OF FUTURE CRIMES
Through its preliminary examinations, investigations and judicial processes, the ICC’s work can help prevent future crimes from happening by putting potential perpetrators on notice that anyone may be held responsible if they commit core international crimes.
JOINING THE ROME STATUTE REINFORCES THE EQUALITY OF ALL BEFORE THE LAW
The Rome Statute sets one standard for all – no one is below or above the law.
As official capacity is irrelevant under the Rome Statute, all individuals can be
brought to justice for grave international crimes.
According to a State Department fact sheet, Prost, an ICC judge “is being designated for ruling to authorize the ICC’s investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.”
Guillou, another judge, “is being designated for ruling to authorize the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant,” the fact sheet said.
This has been the darkest year for the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it opened its doors in The Hague in 2002. Never before had the institution faced such strong headwinds. The US imposed sanctions on four judges and the chief prosecutor, the British national Karim Khan, while threats, intrigue, and pressure from Washington mounted on state parties. The objective: to annul and prevent any arrest warrants against Israelis, including those targeting Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, issued on November 21, 2024, and to close the ongoing investigation into crimes committed on Palestinian territory.
(August 2, 2025)
British lawyer Andrew Cayley, who was tasked with leading the ICC’s file on Palestine (ICC-01/18), said the months he spent working on the case in The Hague were the most difficult of his life.
“I went through the worst months of my life in The Hague,” Cayley told Le Monde.
He described receiving direct threats, including being told he was “an enemy of Israel” and warned to “watch his back.” He resigned in March 2024.
Le Monde also cited a July 17, 2024, intelligence memo from Dutch authorities warning that the ICC had become a “prime target for espionage and subversive influence” by states whose officials were at risk of prosecution.
In a decision published on the ICC website, judges also rejected an Israeli request to suspend the wider ICC investigation into alleged atrocity crimes in the Palestinian Territories.
The ICC issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.
The ICC has a total of 18 judges who serve in different chambers, including the Pre-Trial, Trial and Appeals chambers.
Judges are nominated by state parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, and then elected by the Assembly of States Parties, the court‘s governing body.
Judges must demonstrate high moral character, impartiality and integrity, meeting the qualifications required in their home countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices.
Once elected, ICC judges serve a non-renewable nine-year term.
Below are the profiles of the four judges sanctioned by the Trump administration on 5 June 2025.
The State Department said that Ms. Bossa and Ms. Ibáñez Carranza had ruled to authorize the court’s investigation against U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. While they participated in an appeals decision that opened the way for that investigation, the court’s pursuit of the American role in Afghanistan was eventually dropped. Mr. Khan announced soon after taking office in 2021 that he would not pursue accusations of torture carried out by U.S. military and C.I.A. personnel in Afghanistan and at so-called black sites in other countries. No formal investigations of specific U.S. personnel have taken place, nor have warrants been issued.
Pakistan’s defense minister on Friday declared his country’s innocence in a terror attack that killed 26 people this week in disputed Kashmir territory controlled by India, and said that an international investigation into the attack was needed.
In an interview, the minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, said that the country was “ready to cooperate” with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors.”
FOR THESE REASONS, THE CHAMBER HEREBY,
INVITES Hungary to provide, by 23 May 2025, submissions for the purposes of proceedings under article 87(7) of the Rome Statute; and
INSTRUCTS the Registrar to transmit this invitation to the competent authorities of Hungary