United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to stop exempting the U.S. from international prosecution for war crimes in part because of the abuses carried out by US forces in Iraq.

Annan said on Thursday “It would be unfortunate for one to press for such an exemption, given the prisoner abuse in Iraq. It would be even more unwise on the part of the Security Council to grant it. It would discredit the council and the United Nations that stands for rule of law and the primacy of rule of law.” The current exemption for the U.S. ends on June 30.