Geneva. Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has fought for justice her entire long life. Fearless, uncomfortable and often lonely. The lawyer and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights campaigned on many fronts – against discrimination and the abuse of power.
Now the South African is receiving the highest international political award for her decades of work: the Nobel Peace Prize. Pillay, who has Indian roots, is being recognized for her courageous commitment to international law and her work against war crimes and genocide. This is how the Nobel Committee justified its choice.
The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the former judge at the International Criminal Court also has a clear political message: in a world of geopolitical tensions and conflicts, in a world in which the rules-based international order is increasingly decaying, women fighters for the law should play a stronger role. The award also marks an encouragement to cross-border criminal justice - especially since the USA under President Donald Trump is increasingly imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court.
The honoree herself always stood up for individuals like Nelson Mandela, even as a lawyer in her home country. But she also thinks big: "When the UN was founded, it was just a club of states," said Pillay in 2025. "Everything we have today to protect human rights didn't just come about because states woke up one day. It's thanks to pressure from civil society."
To this day, the 85-year-old mother of two does not avoid controversy and draws the ire of governments - most recently in Israel. As chair of a UN commission of inquiry, Pillay and her staff assessed Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. This was preceded by the unprecedented attack on the Jewish state by the terrorist group Hamas in 2023. Pillay's verdict on Israel's military action, which killed tens of thousands of civilians, was drastic: "The commission states that this is genocide."
Pillay thus intervened in the debate as to whether Israel is responsible for genocide or not. The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem immediately dismissed the accusation as “fake.” Pillay and the other members of the commission were “notorious for their open anti-Semitic positions.”
In fact, Pillay was already harshly critical of Israel as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, for example in 2014 during Israel's conflict with Hamas. “Israel is breaking international law,” she said in an interview with the author. But she also denounced Hamas's indiscriminate rocket fire on Israel.
Pillay was born on September 23, 1941 in South Africa to Indian parents of Tamil origin. The girl experienced firsthand what despotism does. Her family was also one of those excluded in the racist apartheid regime. “We grew up in great poverty,” Pillay said. “My father was a bus driver and we were seven children.”
Navanethem recognized early on that the oppressed ethnic groups could only work together to eliminate the hated white regime. Looking back, she said: It was worth it “if you helped someone who was helpless.”
After studying law, Pillay founded a law firm in 1967, according to the Africanwil platform, as the first woman with dark skin in the Natal province. She defended those who wanted to eliminate the apartheid system. The intrepid lawyer also brought to light the torture practices of the white masters.
After the end of apartheid, Pillay's career took off in the mid-1990s: she was appointed judge of the South African High Court. She later joined the International Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as a judge, where she served for eight years, the last four as president.
According to a UN assessment, Pillay played “a crucial role” in classifying sexual violence as a war crime. She then moved to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Pillay reached the peak of her career in 2008: As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, she fought on behalf of the global community for a fairer life for all people on earth, a life without fear, intimidation, violence and oppression.
As expected, the High Commissioner aroused the displeasure of powerful states. She repeatedly denounced the US prison camp at Guantanamo. Even under President Barack Obama, the United States held suspected terrorists there - usually without trial. Pillay didn't shy away from Russia either: she castigated the discrimination against homosexuals there. “You have to punish violence and hate, but not love.”
As her time as high commissioner came to an end in 2014, the Cape fighter promised: "I have worked for more than 50 years, I think I have earned my retirement." The Nobel Peace Prize now crowns her life.
