ICC Employee’s Sexual Misconduct Claims Against Court Chief, Which He Denies

AMANPOUR: Now come the beginnings of the allegations. According to the reports that we have obtained, you allege that Mr. Khan became, quote,

“more poi, more poi and aggressive,” touching your breasts, genital area, pulling you towards his crotch, eventually digitally and genitally penetrating you. These are all allegations that he denies. Can you tell me about some of that?

SARAH: First of all, I can’t speak about what I told the OIOS investigators. And I’m not going to comment on the report itself. But I can speak to my own experiences.

The first thing that I would have to say is that this did not happen in isolation. This was an environment where we were always on the move. There was always a crisis because that is what happens at the court, you have to deal with multiple things. And it’s also very emotional work that you’re doing.

Mr. Khan himself, in my experience, was a very reactive individual. And he could go from being fine and collaborative, to angry, for example, at criticism in social media. And that would be this rage. And so, you kind of always felt like the ground was shifting under you. And there was a — I have no other way to describe it, but an escalation of attempts.

And so, that escalation was happening in this environment, where you are trying desperately to almost emotionally regulate Mr. Khan. And as I would describe it, the point of the physical nature of it.

But it didn’t start that way. Because it was kind of like encroachments on the boundaries slowly, not just physically, but emotionally as well.

AMANPOUR: Can I just read some of what — I know you can’t comment on the actual report, but we’ve seen the actual report. He maintains that he never engaged in any conduct with you that could be construed as inappropriate, unwelcome or abusive. He also said that you did not express in any fashion that you found any conduct or interaction unwelcome or inappropriate.

And recently you’ve seen and many people have seen he did a public interview with Mehdi Hasan on Zeteo, in which he categorically denied having any kind of relationship with you. I know you can’t talk about the report. But although what do you say to those denials?

SARAH: There’s many ways in which I can answer this. The first thing that I would say is that there is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity. What I think many people don’t understand is that Mr. Khan was not just my boss, he was everyone’s bosses. He is the boss of all bosses. And it cannot be consensual.

I will give you two examples. One is there was a point in time when I said to Mr. Khan that if this continued, I was afraid that I might do something to myself.

AMANPOUR: So, you had suicidal thoughts?

SARAH: I never used that word internally, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. And Mr. Khan understood fully. He was actually very kind in that moment. And he said, I would never want you to harm yourself. And he stopped. I would say about two or three weeks, but that was worse. Because prior to that, it was like being a zombie or being in a fog.

But in those two or three weeks, I was really hopeful, because he wasn’t retaliating against me. The work was happening. And so, I thought it was done. And that’s all I ever wanted for it just to be finished. And then it started again. And so, the crash was even worse.

The second instance, when we talk about consent, we don’t need a series of incidences. And we know that. So, let’s take one moment. One of my experiences happened in Colombia.

AMANPOUR: On a mission to Venezuela and Colombia at that time.

SARAH: Correct. And Mr. Khan’s hotel room was on the floor above mine, right at the end of a hallway. And usually, we sort of cordon off or block off that section for his security and safety. My room was on the floor beneath his, and I had a staff member on either side. We had arrived and Mr. Khan called me and said, there’s a text message I need you to have a look at.

And I thought this was — because Mr. Khan always used the guise of work to initiate interactions. And so, very stupidly, I said, I think I’m nauseous from the altitude, you know, Bogota is above sea level. And I said, could we have a look at this over dinner? Because we were meeting with an official delegate. And he said, it’s OK, I’ll come down to your hotel room.

And in that split second, I thought between the two bad options, this was the better option because he likely wouldn’t try anything knowing that there were two staff members on either side of my room. And I remember distinctly that I stood very close to the door of my hotel room.

He showed me the text message. And I said, OK, well, I can’t do anything with this. Like, you have to send it to me for me to log it. And he sent it. And then he asked me, are you going to take a nap now? I said, Yes, maybe we can talk later. And he said, OK, I’ll take a nap as well with you.

And I froze.

And I remember I was wearing black leggings and a black top. And I lay on the edge of the bed, facing the wall, sort of in like a fetal position. And there is no explanation for this. But I did what sounds ridiculous, but was exactly what I did during a traumatic event when I was a child. And I pretended to be asleep. Nobody goes to sleep that quickly, unless I guess you’re on drugs, or you’ve had a lot of alcohol.

And I felt Mr. Khan sort of scooch over in the bed. And he started to put his hand down my leggings to grope me to put his tongue in my ear. And I didn’t move an inch. Even when I remember, I think his fingernail must have caught my skin. I didn’t flinch nothing. I just was still. Now, when you take that one incident alone, if you believe someone to be asleep, that is not consent. You cannot consent to that.