New york: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has urged the United States to remove sanctions imposed on the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a member of its prosecution staff. Turk's demand was made public on Wednesday through a post on the US social media platform X, where he described the sanctions as "unacceptable."

According to Anadolu Agency, the sanctions are part of a larger pressure campaign initiated by the Trump administration against the ICC, which is based in The Hague. The conflict between the US and the ICC intensified following the court's issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.

Turk has also appealed to nations to defend the institutions they established to promote human rights and uphold the rule of law. He emphasized the importance of safeguarding court officials who face targeted reprisals due to their roles in these institutions.