Former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize as Trump loses again

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South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 in another blow to Donald Trump, who heaped extraordinary pressure on the Norwegian committee to give him the award.

“A common thread runs ⁠from her early ​work ⁠defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against ⁠apartheid to her service as a ​judge ⁠in some of ‌the key international court cases of our time,” the committee ‌said.

It said it came at a time when “the system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack.”

The peace prize is ‌the fifth Nobel awarded this week, after literature, chemistry, physics and medicine. ⁠

It comes on the same day as Pakistan announced it had nominated Trump for the prize once again for playing a “historic role in advancing peace in South Asia.”

“His timely intervention helped bring Pakistan and India back from the brink and secure a ceasefire, that is holding till today,” wrote prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on X on Friday.

Pillay’s work includes defending Nelson Mandela and “others who stood up against apartheid”. She also served as a judge and presided over watershed criminal cases for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

She also chaired the independent UN commission that concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, claims that Israel denies.

Last year’s award was presented to Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado, a democracy and peace activist who sought to replace the Venezuelan government. She symbolically handed her prize over to Trump, as a “recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom”.

The White House reacted furiously to Trump’s snub and berated the Norwegian Nobel Committee for placing “politics over peace”.

But Trump had been silent on the issue recently after launching a war on Iran that has devastated the global economy and provoked wider instability in the Middle East.

The Nobel committee appeared to be aware of the climate within which its decision was made and said in its explanation on choosing Pillay: “We see a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global respects for law and justice. Whenever might overtakes right, it undermines stability, trust and peaceful coexistence.

“In awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wants to remind the world that the rule of law, national and international, underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently. Peace requires justice.”

Nobel chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said:“This is a message that international law and its institutions are the cornerstone of a more peaceful world. So of course, we hope that this prize also will strengthen the institutions, the individuals, not only Navi Pillay, but particularly her.”

Pope Leo XIV has been a vocal critic of Trump’s war in Iran. And in September, he urged Ukraine and Russia to resume negotiations to end the conflict that is heading towards its sixth year.

“War has returned, even to Europe: a new senseless slaughter, claiming countless civilian lives every day,” the Pope told European leaders in Metz.

Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms had also been high on the list of favourites. Following major cuts to USAID and a reduction in international support for aid operations in Sudan, community and volunteer-led aid networks have provided critical services.

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