Navanethem “Navi” Pillay wins the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize: who he is

Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, 85, South African activist and jurist, has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. She has demonstrated "exceptional courage and integrity" in her work against "war crimes", it was explained during the proclamation in Oslo.

Born on 23 September 1941, Navi Pillay served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Tamil Indian descent, she was the first non-white woman to serve as a judge at the High Court of South Africa. He also served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and as president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. In April 2015, Pillay became the sixteenth commissioner of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty.

Among other things, last year Navi Pillay accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. He did so in his capacity as president of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territory. "The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for committing genocide in Gaza. It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians of Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set out in the Genocide Convention," Pillay said on that occasion.