Nobel laureate Pillay’s comments on US sanctions on ICC

Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights activist Navi Pillay has reacted to the United States' sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The former judge of the International Criminal Court on Saturday (October 10) called the US ban on the ICC 'unprecedented and unacceptable', Geo TV reported.

"There is currently a great deal of tension and concern about the existence of international courts, particularly the International Criminal Court in The Hague. There are hundreds of staff there who feel they are under threat," Pillay said, joining the event at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo via video link from Nuremberg.

"The most important thing is that a country has imposed sanctions against them simply because of the orders given by the judges," said the 85-year-old South African lawyer. "This is unprecedented and unacceptable."

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday that former ICC judge Pillay will receive this year's prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

US President Donald Trump has long expressed his desire to receive the prize, but Trump and his ally Israel have criticized the Nobel committee for not awarding him the prize this time.

Within hours of Pillay's name being announced as the winner, the United States announced new sanctions against the ICC.

In addition to her duties at the ICC, Pillay was the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. She also led the UN's 'Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI)', which identified the genocide that took place in Gaza last year.