Nobel Peace Prize goes to Navi Pillay, former UN human rights chief

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, 85, a South African international lawyer and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, recognising her contribution to promoting peace and international law. Kyunghyang Shinmun and Dong-A Ilbo reported that the committee announced the award at a press conference in Oslo on 9 October local time; Kukmin Ilbo, and Newsis and Dong-A Ilbo reports citing CNN, gave the date as 8 October. [ 1 , 4 , 6 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 28 , 30 ]

The committee called Pillay "the foremost defender of international law of our time" and said she played a key role in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are brought to justice. It said that at a time when judges and international legal institutions are under political attack, it wished to remind the world that the ability to resolve conflicts without force or violence depends on the international rule of law. Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said, according to Kyunghyang Shinmun, that the award was "clearly a message" to those who attack and undermine the international system, rules-based order and related institutions. [ 1 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 15 , 22 , 28 , 29 ]

Pillay was born in Durban in 1941 into a Tamil family of Indian origin. As a lawyer under apartheid she defended Nelson Mandela and other activists, and she later became South Africa's first non-white woman High Court judge, according to several outlets. She headed the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where she helped establish that rape and sexual violence can constitute genocide, served as an ICC judge, and was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. She chaired the UN commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory from 2021 to 2025, which concluded that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide, and is an ad hoc ICJ judge in the Myanmar Rohingya genocide case. [ 6 , 7 , 22 , 29 , 33 , 35 ]

Pillay heard the news while in Germany for a Nuremberg event. In a video posted by Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard, she said she first thought it was a joke and, as a lawyer and judge, wanted to verify it, then joked that she might share the prize with Trump if colleagues applauded more. "I hope this is not a joke. Thank you," she said. [ 6 , 7 , 35 ]

Kukmin Ilbo noted that Trump again failed to win, and Kukmin Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo reported interpretations that the choice was a message to him. Chosun Ilbo noted Trump told the New York Times earlier this year he did not need international law, and that in July his administration said the ICC was waging war against the US. Yonhap and Chosun Ilbo headlines said the committee had indirectly criticised US sanctions on the ICC. [ 1 , 7 , 31 , 32 ]

UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the award a common victory for human rights, ICC President Tomoko Akane called it meaningful, Amnesty International called it an excellent choice, and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also praised Pillay. The prize carries 12 million Swedish kronor; the ceremony is in Oslo on 10 December. [ 7 , 13 , 14 , 24 , 28 , 30 ]