South African jurist, former UN human rights chief and ICJ judge Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
Archive footage shows her in her role as chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory – publishing her landmark report in September 2025 which accused Israel of ‘genocide’ against the Palestinians in Gaza – and which Israel strongly denied.
The Nobel Committee said her work, including the Gaza probe, was ‘an important part of the reasoning why she received the prize’. Israel hit back, calling it a ‘gross weaponisation’ of the award.
She is also seen with late South African bishop and anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu.
Pillay also serves as an ‘ad hoc’ judge on the International Court of Justice. The 85-year-old was born in Durban and began her career as an anti-apartheid lawyer. She went on to become the first non-white female judge of her country’s High Court in 1995- before serving as a judge on the International Criminal Court 2003-2008 and headed up the UN human rights office 2008-2014.
The Nobel award saw Donald Trump snubbed for a second year running. Last year it was won by Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Source: Viory
