South African Human Rights Lawyer Navi Pillay, 85, Wins Nobel Peace Prize
By Leila Ebrahim
On Oct. 9, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced in a press statement the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize recipient: Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, an 85-year-old lawyer and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Born in Durban, South Africa, Pillay grew up in an Indian Tamil family. Her grandfather, an indentured laborer working on sugarcane plantations along with many others brought from India by colonial authorities, lost both his arms in an accident while working.
Although Pillay’s parents had no formal education, they emphasized it as a priority and a necessity for a better life. Growing up under apartheid, Pillay was determined to know her rights. Recognizing her potential, her school raised money from the community to help pay for her university fees.
Even so, apartheid made educational and professional opportunities scarce for people of color. Throughout her time in university, Pillay stayed active in protests and boycotts against the regime.
After earning her law degree from the University of Natal in 1965, Pillay worked as an anti-apartheid defense lawyer – and soon became the first woman to open her own law firm in Natal province. She was instrumental in the fight for securing access to legal representation for political prisoners on Robben Island, including Nelson Mandela.
Two decades later, Pillay earned a Master of Law in 1982, and subsequently a doctorate in juridical science from Harvard Law School, becoming the first South African to receive a law doctorate from the university.
In 1995, President Mandela appointed Pillay to the High Court of South Africa, making her the first woman of color to serve on the court. That year, the U.N. General Assembly elected her a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Pillay was one of three judges who issued a 1998 ruling establishing that rape and sexual violence can constitute genocide.
From 2021 to 2025, Pillay chaired the U.N. Independent International Committee of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Under her leadership, the commission concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
“Judges and lawyers don’t often get awards, especially not judges,” said Pillay in an interview with Democracy Now! “We work quietly in our courtrooms. We speak through the judgments. And we don’t act it out or make speeches thereafter.”
Currently, Pillay serves as an ad hoc judge on the International Court of Justice’s Rohingya Genocide case – an investigation into the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
For Pillay’s younger sister, Jenarthenee “Jenny” Pillay, hearing the news about her sister’s award was overwhelming. “Navi remained committed to causes she believed in, undertaking voluntary work without the financial rewards she had received during her career. It is such a wonderful feeling because my sister worked very hard,” she said in an interview with The Post.
On Dec. 10, Pillay will be presented with the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. She plans to use the $1.2 million cash prize to assist people in need.
“Let me dedicate this award to all of the survivors of international crimes, as well as to practitioners and defenders of international justice whose compassion and courage continue to ensure that impunity will not be allowed to reign,” said Pillay at a press conference in Nuremberg, Germany.
Pillay’s journey has been groundbreaking not only through her academic and professional achievements, but also pivotal to global human rights.
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