South African judge Navi Pillay, 85, has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee recognized her efforts to promote peace and international law, the rules that govern relations between countries. Pillay previously led the United Nations' human rights work and served as a judge at the International Criminal Court.
She grew up in a poor Indian community in Durban during apartheid, a system that separated people by race. Early in her career, she defended activists who opposed that system. Her international work later included Rwanda, Gaza, and Myanmar. She served as a judge at the UN-backed court dealing with Rwanda's 1994 genocide and led that court for four years.
Pillay learned she had won while visiting the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany. She expressed surprise and thanked those who applauded her. She dedicated the award to survivors of serious international crimes and people working for justice. The committee emphasized that it was honoring her entire career, rather than taking a position on whether Israel's offensive in Gaza amounted to genocide.
