OSLO (Kashmir English): South African jurist and former UN human rights chief Navanethem “Navi” Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize 2026 on Friday for her contributions to peace and international law.
Navi Pillay previously led a United Nations (UN) commission of inquiry that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Pillay’s decades-long efforts to strengthen international justice and hold perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide accountable.
“This year’s laureate has significantly enlarged the scope and impact of international law,” the committee said, highlighting her work in international courts and as UN high commissioner for human rights.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Nobel Peace Committee, said that Navi Pillay has significantly enlarged the scope and impact of international law.
Born in Durban, in South Africa’s Natal province, in a family of Indian Tamil origin, Navi Pillay, 85, has been a judge on several international courts, including the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
She was also chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory that concluded last year that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel dismissed the report as “scandalous”.
