\n<\/p>\n
The Nobel peace prize has been awarded to Navi Pillay, the South African former UN human rights chief who chaired the UN commission that concluded Israel was guilty of genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n
The Norwegian Nobel committee said Pillay, who is serving as a judge at the international court of justice (ICJ), has \u201cshown that legal measures can help prevent acts of war and violence\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNavi Pillay\u2019s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career,\u201d the committee said, mentioning her early work defending Nelson Mandela under South Africa\u2019s apartheid regime, serving on the international criminal tribunal, and then as the UN high commissioner for human rights, as well as chairing the UN independent international commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n
That commission concluded last year that the state of Israel was guilty of genocidal acts in Gaza \u201cwith the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza\u201d, and said the country\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, its president, Isaac Herzog, and its former defence minister Yoav Gallant had \u201cincited the commission of genocide\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the genocide convention,\u201d Pillay said on the publication of the commission\u2019s findings in September last year.<\/p>\n
Israel refused to cooperate with the commission, arguing it was biased, and rejected its report as \u201cscandalous\u201d. The Israeli foreign ministry reacted furiously to news of Pillay\u2019s award on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there were an award for lies, hatred, and blood libels, Navi Pillay wouldn\u2019t just be a contender. She\u2019d be a frontrunner,\u201d the ministry said on X, adding: \u201cAwarding Pillay the Nobel Peace Prize isn\u2019t a recognition of justice. It\u2019s the grotesque weaponization of an award to legitimize anti-Israel hatred and prejudice.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that the Nobel commission has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, Joseph Goebbels is certainly applauding from hell.\u201d<\/p>\n
In its statement, the Nobel committee said Pillay, 85, had \u201ccontributed to strengthen the institutions of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer independence, expertise and steadfastness have made her one of the most respected international jurists of our time,\u201d the committee said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn awarding this year\u2019s Nobel peace prize, the Norwegian Nobel committee wants to remind the world that the rule of law \u2013 national and international \u2013 underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently,\u201d its statement said.<\/p>\n
The committee said it had not been able to locate Pillay before its announcement on Friday morning. She was attending a meeting of human rights lawyers and jurists in Nuremberg, Germany, at the site of postwar war crimes trials of Nazi leaders, and heard the news from colleagues. She responded with disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about it so much. The question is: is it true? Being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last thing I did was the report on Gaza naming what\u2019s happening there as genocide,\u201d Pillay added. \u201cOne of the main reactions to that report was people [complimented] me for my courage. You can imagine how surprised I was. Why would you need courage to speak the truth. You interpret the law. You look at all the facts, so it\u2019s an impartial decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pillay is currently overseeing a genocide case against Myanmar at the ICJ.<\/p>\n
The ICJ, a UN body, rules on disputes between states, while the international criminal court (ICC) investigates and prosecutes individuals accused of atrocities and other grave international crimes.<\/p>\n
Hours after the announcement, the Trump administration unveiled broad new sanctions against the ICC, on which Pillay also once served. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the measures were to ensure the court would never prosecute Americans.<\/p>\n
The ICC has not charged any US nationals, and has previously pointed out that it is a court of last resort, unnecessary in the case of countries with effective legal systems. Last year, Donald Trump, who has long coveted the Nobel peace prize, imposed personal sanctions against ICC officials deemed to be involved in investigations of Americans or Israelis. The new sanctions target the court as an institution, blocking any ICC assets in the US and giving US companies and individuals six months to wind down any business with the court.<\/p>\n
The ICC said the sanctions were \u201can attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the court from doing what it was created to do\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order which strikes at the simple principle that no one stands above the law,\u201d the court said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Pillay\u2019s award was welcomed by human rights activists and hailed in South Africa, home to four previous laureates. The country\u2019s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said: \u201cJustice Pillay\u2019s crowning as winner of the Nobel prize allows us to celebrate the progressive contributions she has made to strengthen peace, uphold human dignity and bring hope in South Africa and to peoples globally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwin Cameron, a retired South African constitutional court justice, said: \u201cThe award of the prize to Navi Pillay re-emphasises that the prize embodies an international aspiration to peace, and to respect and understanding across borders \u2013 and that leaders of great stature in our country \u2013 [Desmond] Tutu, Mandela, now Pillay \u2013 are recognised outside it, on the international stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis may help reset our national debate on South Africa\u2019s position in the region, and in Africa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Yasmin Sooka, a human rights lawyer and commissioner on both South Africa and Sierra Leone\u2019s truth and reconciliation commissions, said Pillay \u201cfollows in the footsteps of Chief Albert Luthuli and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, carrying forward South Africa\u2019s proud tradition of linking peace with justice and human dignity\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom defending apartheid\u2019s most vulnerable to her pioneering role in the Akayesu judgment, she has transformed international justice. That judgment helped establish rape and sexual violence as weapons of war \u2013 a historic breakthrough that placed survivors\u2019 experiences at the heart of international justice,\u201d Sooka said.<\/p>\n
In 1998, the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda found Jean-Paul Akayesu, a former mayor of Taba, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the ICC, as UN high commissioner for human rights, and leading the inquiry that found Israel responsible for genocide in Gaza, she has brought unwavering integrity and courage to holding power accountable,\u201d Sooka added.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s award of the peace prize to the Venezuelan opposition leader, Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, drew widespread criticism because of her calls for US military intervention in her country. Machado heightened the controversy in January by handing her winner\u2019s medal to Trump. The prize committee insisted that the honour of being a Nobel laureate could not be transferred.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Pillay joked that she could do the same: \u201cIf you clap a little bit more, I\u2019m going to share this prize with Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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