Navanethem Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize for defence of international law
The South African-born judge was honoured for her work from the anti-apartheid struggle to key international courts.
OSLO · Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, a South African-born judge on the International Court of Justice and former United Nations human rights chief, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Friday. The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized the 85-year-old for her lifelong efforts to promote peace and international law. Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes called Pillay one of the great defenders of international legal principles and said her commitment to justice is a source of hope. The award comes at a time of what the committee described as existential challenges for international law and a shift toward power politics.
"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 of our time," the committee said. Pillay received the news while attending a session of the Nuremberg Forum in Germany, a gathering to discuss international law in the city where Nazi war criminals were tried. "Firstly, at this venue, your applause means a great deal to me," she told reporters there. She expressed gratitude for being with colleagues who support human rights.
The prize has drawn sharp criticism from Israel. The Israeli ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, told Reuters the decision was disgraceful and an endorsement for proponents of antisemitism. He accused Pillay of leading campaigns to undermine Israel's existence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on social media that the Nobel committee "has lost its moral compass" by awarding the prize to "a bigot." The criticism stems from Pillay's role as chair of a UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded last year that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
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Pillay has rebuffed accusations of antisemitism, noting she worked with Jewish lawyers against apartheid and was invited to Israel as UN rights chief. The commission she led also accused Hamas of war crimes for its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Referring to the reaction to the Gaza report, Pillay said on Friday, "You interpret the law, you look at all the facts, so that it's impartial decision-making." She called Israel's actions in Gaza "a moral outrage and a legal emergency."
The award announcement coincided with the Trump administration imposing new sanctions on the International Criminal Court, a separate tribunal where Pillay once served as a judge. U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed Pillay as "a liberal person who works at the United Nations who nobody has ever heard of" and claimed the prize had been discredited. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions would ban transactions with the court. The Nobel committee said the award seeks to remind the world that the rule of law underpins the system to ensure peace.
Pillay is currently serving as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in a case where Myanmar is accused of genocide against the Rohingya minority. She told reporters she wants to see that case through to its conclusion. Born in Durban to parents of Indian Tamil origin under apartheid, Pillay became the first woman to start a law practice in Natal and the first non-white woman on South Africa's High Court. She holds a Master of Law and a Doctorate of Juridical Science from Harvard University.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Pillay, calling the award a deep tribute to her courage and integrity. UN Secretary General António Guterres said Pillay has shown that the force of law must prevail over the law of force. The peace prize is the fifth Nobel awarded this week. It is worth about $1.7 million Canadian and will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of award founder Alfred Nobel.
With files from The Globe and Mail, CBC News and CityNews