State Department sanctions four ICC judges for U.S., Israel probes - UPI.com

The U.S. State Department sanctioned International Criminal Court judges Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz Del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou from Benin (pictured here) as well as Beti Hohler of Slovenia. File Photo by Sem Van Der Wal/EPA-EFE

June 6 (UPI) -- The United States on Thursday sanctioned four International Criminal Court Judges, citing investigations into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and Israeli leaders.

The State Department announced the sanctions against Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz Del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou from Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia over what it described as the court's effort to "arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person without consent of that person's country of nationality."

"We do not take this step lightly," the State Department statement said. "It reflects the seriousness of the threat we face from the ICC's politicization and abuse of power."

The State Department noted that Bossa and Ibanez Carranza had authorized an investigation against U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, while Alapini Gansou and Hohler authorized warrants to arrest Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.