South African former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to South Africa's Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, the judge who headed the Rwanda genocide tribunal and last year presided over a UN commission that accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Issued on: 09/10/2026 RFI
"A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday.
It described the 85-year-old judge as "one of the most courageous and important legal experts of our time" at a time when "the system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack".
Pillay, currently a judge on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case in which Myanmar also stands accused of genocide, has been "instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted," committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said.
"At a time of profound challenges to the international legal order and the rule of law, this recognition carries particular significance," International Criminal Court president Tomoko Akane said.
Pillay headed the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the world body, and which last year found that genocide was occurring in Gaza.
She told AFP at the time that her team had shared "thousands of pieces of information" with prosecutors at the International Criminal Court.
The UN said the prize for Pillay was testimony to the "value" of rights.
A snub to Trump
The prize was announced on the same day Pakistan said it had again nominated US President Donald Trump for his "historic role in advancing peace in South Asia".
"His timely intervention helped bring Pakistan and India back from the brink and secure a ceasefire, that is holding till today," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X on Friday.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has campaigned intensively for the prize and hasn't hidden his disappointment at not winning it yet.
The billionaire has reportedly heaped pressure on the Norwegian committee to give him the award.
Trump had admitted prior to the announcement that he would most likely not be given the award.
"I don't know what their decision's going to be. They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me. But whether I get it or not, I have done far more, and I think it would be a great discredit to them," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump," Pillay said to a standing ovation captured by Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard in Nuremberg and posted on X.
Last year, the prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who subsequently gave her Nobel gold medal to Trump.
11th African honoured
The prize comes with a gold medal, a diploma and a prize sum of $1.2 million.
The award will be presented at a formal ceremony in Oslo on 10 December, the anniversary of the 1896 death of the prizes' creator, Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel.
This is the 11th time that a person or organisation from Africa has received the annual distinction.
Pillay is the second African woman to be honoured, following Kenya’s Wangari Maathai in 2004, and the fifth South African, after Albert Luthuli in 1960, Desmond Tutu in 1984, and Nelson Mandela and Frederik de Klerk in 1993.
(with newswires)
Jurist Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize for 2026
Announcing the award, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said it was going to a "person who with exceptional courage and integrity has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order."
South African jurist Navanethem "Navi" Pillay has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 for her efforts to promote international law and peace.
Announcing the award, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said it was going to a "person who with exceptional courage and integrity has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order."
"This year's laureate has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted," he added.
Born in Durban on South Africa's east coast, Pillay would go on to become the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2008, a post she held until 2014.
Earlier in her career, she worked as a defence attorney for anti-apartheid activists, helping establish rights for prisoners on Robben Island.
She then served as acting judge on the South African High Court and as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
She was also appointed as a judge on the International Criminal Court in 2003, working within the Appeals Chamber until 2008.
In 2025, whilst serving as the chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, Pillay accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has offered her congratulations to Pillay in a post on social media, saying "few have devoted their lives to justice, peace and human dignity like she did."
"From the violence of apartheid in South Africa to the horrors of the Rwandan genocide, she has confronted some of humanity’s darkest chapters," she wrote. "In a world that needs justice more than ever, her courage and moral clarity are a precious compass."
The Nobel Foundation announced in September that it would raise the prize money for the prestigious awards to SEK 12 million (around €1.07 million) in each category.
"This year, we are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Prize, and in connection with this, we are pleased to be able to increase the prize amount by one million," Hanna Stjärne, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, said. "By increasing the prize amount, we uphold the long-term significance of the Nobel Prize and ensure that the financial part of the prize retains its value over time."
Our journalists are working on this story and will update it as soon as more information becomes available.
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