South Africa's Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize
The 85-year-old jurist, a former UN human rights chief, was honoured for defending international law at a time when its courts are under attack. She dedicated the prize to survivors.
Oslo — Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, the South African jurist and former United Nations human rights chief, has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work to promote peace and international law, Africanews reports.
Pillay, who is 85, is the fifth South African to receive the prize, according to the Mail & Guardian.
The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, said her work was "a source of hope and inspiration to all those who seek to bring about a more peaceful world". The committee presented the award as a message to those trying to undermine the rules-based international system and its institutions. This year is the prize's 125th anniversary.
'As a lawyer and a judge'
Pillay received the news while at the Nuremberg Forum. She joked that, as a lawyer and a judge, she wanted to verify the information first. She dedicated the prize to survivors of international crimes.
Her career has run through the main institutions of international justice. She served as a judge on the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2008, then as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and has also worked at the International Court of Justice.
The Gaza inquiry
Most recently Pillay chaired the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. The commission concluded that Israel bore responsibility for genocide in Gaza, and that Israeli leaders had incited it. Israel has refused to cooperate with the commission since 2021 and denies the charge.
US President Donald Trump rejected the commission's findings. Both he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have criticised the international courts.
Hours after the announcement, Washington imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court.
This report is based on reporting by Africanews and the Mail & Guardian.
