On: ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan dismissed over sexual misconduct allegations,...

July 26, 1940.

The news arrives with the dull thud of a heavy door closing. The International Criminal Court has dismissed its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan. The reason given is sexual misconduct. The method was a vote by member states.

They say this is a matter of law. They say it is a matter of justice. They say it is a matter of integrity. These are the words they use to hide the machinery. The machinery is simple. Men in suits sat in a room. They looked at a man who had the power to indict other men in suits. They decided his power was too great. They decided his personal life was a lever they could pull.

The word “misconduct” is a soft word. It suggests a stumble. It suggests a moment of weakness. It does not suggest the hard, cold reality of a vote. It does not suggest the calculation of power. The man who prosecutes war criminals is removed because he touched the nerves of the powerful. The powerful do not like to be touched.

The court claims to stand for the rule of law. The court stands for the rule of those who pay the bills. The man who enforced the law was removed. The men who control the money remain. This is the pattern. It is always the pattern. The judge is removed. The prosecutor is fired. The inspector is silenced. The people who hold the pen keep the pen.

I look at my own hands. They are stained with ink. I write about the lies of politicians. I write about the cruelty of soldiers. I am not clean. I am not innocent. But I do not vote myself out of a job because I offended a king. I do not sit in a room and decide that my own comfort is more important than the truth.

The court has chosen comfort over truth. They have chosen the vote over the law. They have chosen to protect the powerful from the consequences of their actions. This is not justice. This is a transaction. The price of justice is the silence of the prosecutor. The price of power is the noise of the vote.

I write this down. I do not expect it to change anything. The machinery will continue. The men in suits will continue. The world will continue to be cruel. But I will not lie about it. I will not call a vote a victory. I will not call a dismissal a triumph. I will call it what it is: a betrayal.