Nobel Peace Prize awarded to human rights lawyer Navi Pillay

Navi Pillay, a prominent human rights lawyer of Indian Tamil descent, has won the Nobel Peace Prize.

In a statement released Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee praised 85-year-old Pillay for holding governments and national leaders accountable while offering hope to victims of violence and conflict. It called her “one of the great defenders of international legal principles.”

Of Indian Tamil heritage, she grew up in apartheid-era South Africa and later defended Nelson Mandela as a lawyer. She went on to serve in prominent human rights roles within the United Nations.

Her legal career includes serving as a judge in South Africa and at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, followed by a six-year term as UN high commissioner for human rights from 2008 to 2014.

She played a significant role in shaping the definitions of genocide and crimes against humanity to include rape and sexual violence. Her work also contributed to a Rwandan case in which a defendant faced charges of inciting genocide by spreading propaganda.

In its findings last year, the commission concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a determination rejected by the Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu objected to the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s selection and also criticized Pillay.