Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Navanethem Pillay
The South African lawyer has spent decades defending international law, which is coming under increasing pressure.
Oslo (dpa, d.de) – South African lawyer Navanethem Pillay has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work “to promote peace and international law”. In awarding the prize, the committee wanted to “remind the world that strengthening international law is a cornerstone of a more peaceful world”. “Navi Pillay embodies the idea that peace is founded on the rule of law,” said Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, adding that she had “shaped the jurisprudence on genocide through landmark rulings, particularly on sexual violence as a means of committing genocide”.
The 85-year-old daughter of a bus driver from Durban, South Africa, fought apartheid as a young lawyer before going on to become one of the world’s leading international legal experts. She served as a judge at the UN war crimes tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, and as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Most recently, she chaired a UN commission of inquiry that accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip in 2025.
Just a few hours after the prize was awarded, it emerged that the USA was further tightening its sanctions against the ICC. By contrast, Germany has reaffirmed its “continued and unwavering support” for the Court. This was stated in a joint declaration issued on 9 October by the foreign ministers of Denmark, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, Canada and the Netherlands.
