GENEVA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Friday that he was "profoundly disturbed" by the U.S. government's decision to impose sanctions on judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Turk said that attacks against judges for performing their judicial functions, whether at the national or international level, "run directly counter to respect for the rule of law and the equal protection of the law - values for which the U.S. has long stood."

Such attacks, he emphasized, seriously undermine good governance and the proper administration of justice.

He urged the U.S. government to reconsider its decision and lift the sanctions without delay.

The Donald Trump administration imposed sanctions on four ICC judges on Thursday, freezing U.S.-based assets and restricting entry to the United States in response to the court's investigations into alleged war crimes involving Israeli officials and U.S. personnel. ■