Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize 2026: "Human rights are under attack". Who is he

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. The Nobel Peace Committee initially said it was unable to contact her. “If you see a Norwegian number, please answer,” was the appeal of President Jorgen Watne Frydnes, as reported by the Guardian. Then, from Nuremberg, came Navi Pillay's first reaction: "If you clap a little louder, maybe I'll share the prize with Trump," she joked. In a conference, he then dedicated the award "to the survivors of international crimes" and added: "Human rights are under political attack, we must be united in defending the rule of law." Finally, the message to world leaders: "You have a legal obligation to protect human rights and to refrain from waging war."

Who is Navi Pillay

Born on 23 September 1941, Navi Pillay held the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Tamil Indian origins, 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. It adopted the Born Free and Equal document on sexual orientation and gender identity into international law in September 2012. In April 2015, Pillay became the sixteenth commissioner of the International Commission against the Death Penalty. Additionally, she was appointed chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council after the 2021 Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

The motivation

The Norwegian Nobel Committee explained that it chose to award the award to Navi Pillay, a South African champion of human rights, at a time when international law and institutions are under attack. “The system of international law is under enormous pressure and its institutions are under attack,” Jorgen Watne Frydnes, president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told a news conference in Oslo. He added that he sees a shift "toward power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global respect for law and justice."

Last year he accused Israel of genocide in Gaza

Among other things, last year Navi Pillay accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. He did so in his capacity as chairman of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Commission, a body that does not speak on behalf of the entire UN institution, concluded that a genocide was underway in Gaza. "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. Israel rejected the report's findings, calling them "distorted and false."

"Brave? I told the truth"

In her first speech after the proclamation, the new Nobel Peace Prize winner returned to those declarations. "The last thing I did was the report on Gaza, in which I define what is happening there as a genocide. One of the main reactions to that report was to pay tribute to me for my courage. And you can imagine how surprised I was. Why would it take courage to tell the truth?", said Navi Pillay. "You interpret the law, you look at all the facts, so it's an impartial decision-making process..." he added. "Awarding the prize to Pillay is not an act of justice, but the grotesque exploitation of a recognition to legitimize hatred and prejudice against Israel. Now that the Nobel committee has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell", commented the Israeli Foreign Ministry in a statement.

The position of the Nobel Peace Committee

The Nobel Peace Committee has indicated that it does not wish to take a position on the accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. "It is his report, the Commission's report; of course we have great confidence in his professionalism and integrity, but that work is the result of a United Nations commission of inquiry," said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, president of the Norwegian Committee, referring to Pillay and stressing that it is up to international courts to rule on the matter and that the Nobel Committee "is not a tribunal". In announcing the award, Frydnes recalled that Pillay chaired the commission without mentioning either Gaza or Israel. Instead, he highlighted his work at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and his current role as judge of the International Court of Justice in the proceedings that see Myanmar accused of genocide. “This year's winner played a vital role in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide were prosecuted,” Frydnes said at the press conference.

The joke about Trump

After learning she had won the Nobel, Navi Pillay joked: "If you clap a little louder, maybe I'll share the prize with Trump." The reaction was filmed in Nuremberg by the general secretary of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, who published the film on Last year the Nobel Peace Prize was won by María Corina Machado, leader of the Venezuelan opposition: after the United States had ousted the then Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, Machado handed over her medal to US leader Donald Trump. It was a symbolic gesture: the Nobel Committee, in fact, was quick to underline that the Prize itself is not transferable.

Navi Pillay's reaction

Returning to Navi Pillay, she said that when she was given the news of the Nobel the first comment she made was: "It must be a joke." "In this context, your applause really means a lot. You know, you don't want to receive an award if the public doesn't agree that you deserve it. So I appreciate your applause today. But, being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify your claims..." he added. "At the moment - he said again - I am still president of the judging panel in the case brought by Gambia against Myanmar. Everyone asks me: 'When will you stop?' I turned 85 last month. I can't stop, obviously."

Dedication to "survivors of international crimes"

A few hours later, Navi Pillay held a press conference in the historic courtroom of Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi leaders took place after the Second World War. The winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize dedicated the award to "survivors of international crimes". “I would like to dedicate this award to all survivors of international crimes,” he said. The South African jurist then denounced the attacks against the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been targeted in particular by Donald Trump since his return to the White House. “We are living in an era in which international law and human rights are under heavy political attack,” he said. And again: "This deterioration is particularly evident in the attacks aimed at the International Criminal Court." Then he recalled how last month Trump called the institution "evil" and "outlaw", calling on member states to abandon it. Pillay then addressed world leaders: "My message to leaders, to policy makers, is this: you have a legal obligation. Whatever other moral obligations you have, you have a legal obligation to protect human rights and to refrain from waging war."