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His call comes a day after four more Court personnel \u2013 two judges and two deputy prosecutors \u2013 were slapped with sanctions in connection with efforts to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the US and Israel.<\/p>\n
This follows sanctions imposed earlier on four other judges and the ICC Prosecutor. Measures imposed could include blocking financial access to property or assets in the US, as well as travel bans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe relentless intensification of US reprisals against international institutions and their personnel must stop<\/strong>,\u201d said Mr. T\u00fcrk.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSanctioning judges and prosecutors at national, regional or international levels, for fulfilling their mandate in accordance with international law standards, is an assault on the rule of law and corrodes justice<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The sanctions stem from an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump in February in response to the UN-backed Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.<\/p>\n The ICC is also probing war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan by all sides during years of conflict, including the US, following the allied invasion of the country in October 2001.<\/p>\n Neither the US nor Israel are party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.<\/p>\n Mr. T\u00fcrk called for the withdrawal of the sanctions against the ICC personnel and those targeting the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.<\/p>\n The independent expert, Francesca Albanese, receives her mandate from the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. For more details, read our story <\/em>here<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn the meantime, I call on States to take immediate steps to protect all of them, including by taking measures to encourage corporations operating within their jurisdiction not to implement the sanctions against these individuals,\u201d Mr. T\u00fcrk said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s time countries step up<\/strong><\/h2>\n