WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Announcing the award Friday, The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 to Navanethem 'Navi' Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
'The Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 goes to a person who with exceptional courage and integrity has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order. This year's laureate has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted,' it said in a press release.
At a time of existential challenges - including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time - international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity.
It noted that in historic international court cases, Navi Pillay has shown that legal measures can help prevent acts of war and violence. She has also contributed to strengthen the institutions of international law. Her independence, expertise and steadfastness have made her one of the most respected international jurists of our time.
The 85-year-old South African jurist served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014, but her career has spanned more than 50 years - from fighting apartheid in her homeland to defending civilians in conflict zones.
A South African of Tamil origin, Pillay was the first non-white female judge of the High Court of South Africa.
She has also served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda's genocide between the late 1990s and early 2000s.
When the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda established that rape and sexual violence could constitute a crime against humanity - as well as genocide - her influence was a significant factor.
Until recently, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Currently, Navi Pillay is a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar stands accused of genocide.
Born into a family of Indian Tamil origin under apartheid in Durban, South Africa, Pillay became a lawyer and legal pioneer, confronting deep structural discrimination, segregation and exclusion. A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that in awarding this year's Nobel Peace Prize, it wants to remind the world that the rule of law - national and international - underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently. Peace requires justice.
'The judges - those who guard the thin red line between order and chaos - are therefore highly deserving of our praise. But today, as these same judges are sanctioned, and their institutions are attacked, we need people of courage, vision and determination - qualities that Navi Pillay demonstrates in her work on the bench,' the Nobel Committee noted, in apparent reference to the Trump administration imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court.
The Trump Administration has waged an escalating sanctions campaign against ICC in The Hague, driven by the court's investigations into U.S. personnel and arrest warrants for Israeli officials.
On receiving the news of Pillay's honor, the current UN human rights chief Volker Türk warmly congratulated the woman he described as a big sister.
'To say it is well deserved is a total understatement, and especially at a time when human rights are under attack on so many fronts, including from those who wield enormous power, this award is particularly poignant,' he said, speaking in Geneva.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
