Navi Pillai: The new sanctions against the International Criminal Court are unprecedented

Navi Pillai: The new sanctions against the International Criminal Court are unprecedented

Navi Pillay, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called the new US sanctions against the International Criminal Court "unprecedented and unacceptable".

Ms. Pillai said: "There is great concern about the continuation of international courts, especially the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Most importantly, a country has announced sanctions against judges, simply because they issue judicial rulings. This is an unprecedented and unacceptable act."

The US government imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court yesterday, just hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Criminal Court condemned this action as a "ground attack on the rule of law and the foundations of the international legal order" and asked its 125 member states to act to protect this institution. Donald Trump's administration has long been hostile to the International Criminal Court. This court was established in 2002 to deal with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The US government has previously imposed sanctions on the judges and prosecutors of this institution.