The International Criminal Court (ICC) has disqualified its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, from handling the war crimes case against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte due to a potential conflict of interest, according to a ruling seen by Reuters.
The Appeals Chamber issued the decision on October 2, stating that Khan’s previous involvement with the Philippine Human Rights Commission (PHRC) could call his impartiality into question. Before joining the ICC, Khan represented the PHRC and a group of victims in communications that identified Duterte as a primary suspect in the government’s violent anti-drug campaign.
Khan had opposed the defense’s request for his removal, arguing there was “no conflict of interest arising from his representation of the chair of the PHRC and a group of victims in relation to communications with the ICC.” However, the judges ruled that his prior role “might appear biased,” barring him from continuing in the case.
The decision marks another setback for Khan, who had already stepped aside in May amid a United Nations inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct. He was also ordered to recuse himself from an investigation into Venezuela earlier this year after judges found a potential conflict stemming from his sister-in-law’s legal work with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Following Khan’s disqualification, deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang has taken over the Duterte case. Niang himself is among ICC officials sanctioned by the United States over the court’s probe into alleged war crimes by Israel in Gaza.
Duterte, arrested in March and transferred to The Hague, faces accusations of murder and crimes against humanity tied to his administration’s anti-drug operations from 2016 to 2022, during which thousands were killed. His legal team maintains his detention was “unlawful” and equates it to kidnapping.
The ICC prosecutor’s office has not yet issued a statement in response to Khan’s removal.
