Secretary-General Appoints Karim Asad Ahmad Khan of United Kingdom to Head Team Investigating Islamic State Actions in Iraq

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Karim Asad Ahmad Khan of the United Kingdom as the Special Adviser and Head of the Investigative Team established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017), to support domestic efforts to hold Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) accountable by collecting, preserving, and storing evidence in Iraq of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by the terrorist group.

Mr. Khan is the first Head of the Investigative Team.  He is a barrister and Queen’s Counsel with more than 25 years of professional experience as an international criminal law and human rights lawyer.  He has extensive experience as a prosecutor, victim’s counsel and defence lawyer in domestic and international criminal tribunals, including, but not limited to, the International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

The holder of a Bachelor of Laws degree with Honours from King’s College, University of London, and various other degrees and qualifications, Mr. Khan has studied and lectured on Islamic law and published extensively in the area of international criminal justice and human rights.