South African-Born Jurist Navi Pillay Wins Nobel Peace Prize for Her Work in International Justice
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Navi Pillay, a South African-born jurist and former U.N. human rights chief whose career has spanned from defending the rights of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela to leading a panel that found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for efforts that the award committee said promoted international law as it comes under attack.
Navi Pillay, a jurist from South Africa, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in international justice. The Norwegian Nobel Committee presented the award to Pillay, recognizing her efforts to promote international law, which is under attack currently. Pillay, who is 85, won the prize on Friday at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.
Her nomination came at a time when international law is under significant scrutiny, particularly in places like Israel and South Africa, where she took on some of the most sensitive legal issues and vulnerable populations.
Pillay chaired the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, which concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. The commission found that Israeli leaders had incited the commission of genocide, though Israel has denied these accusations. Pillay has consistently rejected allegations of antisemitism and has firmly defended her stance on these issues.
After winning the prestigious award, Pillay said the efforts to weaken international criminal justice "endanger the progress painstakingly made since Nuremberg, and they risk returning us to a world in which power, rather than law, determines whose suffering matters."
The U.S. administration has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to Pillay's Nobel Prize. These sanctions aim to cripple the court's ability to operate against the United States and its allies, including Israel. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the administration would ban transactions with the ICC, cutting off its resources and crippling its ability to operate effectively.
The committee chairman, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, emphasized the importance of the rule of law and noted that Pillay's work demonstrates qualities such as courage, vision, and determination.
Written by urgent.news from The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
