Navi Pillay dedicates her Nobel to survivors and asks the world to defend its courts
The South African jurist, 85, learned of her prize in the Nuremberg courtroom where the post-war trials were held. She wants collective action, not statements, for international justice.
Nuremberg — Navi Pillay, the South African jurist awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, has dedicated it to survivors of international crimes and to those who practise and defend international justice, Africanews reports.
Where she heard
In an interview with the Associated Press, Ms Pillay, 85, said she was at a conference on international law and human rights at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy last week, in Courtroom 600, where the trials after the Second World War were held. The academy's director came in, visibly moved, and asked her to step outside. Her first fear was that something had happened to one of her two daughters. Then he told her the news.
She called the award the most fitting of honours.
A life in international law
Ms Pillay was a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and has served on the International Criminal Court. With two colleagues, she delivered the Rwanda tribunal's first genocide judgment, and she has led investigations into alleged genocide in Rwanda, Myanmar and Gaza. The Genocide Convention, she stressed, is about prevention: the question is whether steps were taken to stop genocide.
Her call
Ms Pillay urged people to unite in defending the rule of law, independent courts and an international legal order based on principle, saying the whole world is affected when the rule of law is ignored. Hours after her prize was announced, the United States announced sweeping new sanctions against the International Criminal Court. She called on countries to defend the court, with collective action and not just statements.
Source: Africanews with AP, 14 October 2026.
