Navi Pillay, former UN human rights chief, wins Nobel Peace Prize

Fonte da imagem, AFP via Getty Images. Legenda: Pillay foi informado sobre o prêmio no Palácio da Justiça de Nuremberg.

Former UN human rights chief and International Court of Justice judge Navi Pillay has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

A juíza sul-africana foi reconhecida “por seus esforços para promover a paz e o direito internacional”, que abriu caminho para uma “ordem jurídica global mais abrangente”, disse o comitê do Nobel.

Pillay, 85, has taken part in high-profile work considering allegations of human rights violations during a decades-long career, including in Rwanda, Myanmar and Gaza.

Her early work included defending anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and on Friday she became the country's fifth Peace Prize winner - following in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

O trabalho de Pillay havia sido “instrumental na garantia de que crimes de guerra, crimes contra a humanidade e genocídio sejam processados”, disse o presidente do Comitê Norueguês do Nobel, Jørgen Watne Frydnes.

Navi Pillay's commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career," he said.

At a time of existential challenges - including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time - international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security.

Legenda da figura, Observe: Momento em que Navi Pillay foi nomeada vencedora do Prêmio Nobel da Paz.

Frydnes said the committee had not been able to notify Pillay that she had won in advance, "so my message to her would be 'if you see a Norwegian number calling, please pick up.

Shortly afterwards, Pillay reacted to the news from Nuremberg's Palace of Justice by saying "it must be a joke" and thanked those who had gathered to applaud her.

Se você aplaudir um pouco mais, eu posso dividir este prêmio com Trump," ela brincou. A vencedora do ano passado, a líder da oposição venezuelana María Corina Machado, entregou sua medalha ao presidente dos EUA em janeiro como "reconhecimento pelo seu compromisso único com nossa liberdade.

Pillay dedicated her award to "all the survivors of international crimes" and the practitioners of international justice "whose compassion and courage continue to ensure that impunity will not be allowed to reign.

Navanethem "Navi" Pillay grew up in South Africa during apartheid as a bus driver's daughter in a poor Indian section of Durban.

She went on to become the first woman to establish a law practice in Natal Province in 1967, and later the first non-white woman to be appointed to the country's high court.

Pillay atuou como juiz no Tribunal Penal Internacional de Ruanda, apoiado pela ONU – focado no genocídio de 1994, no qual 800. 000 pessoas foram mortas – incluindo quatro anos como seu presidente.

She was elected to the International Criminal Court in 2003.

From 2021-25, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory - a fact-finding body established by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate alleged violations of international law.

A comissão concluiu que Israel havia cometido atos genocidas em Gaza e que o Primeiro‑Ministro israelense Benjamin Netanyahu, e seu ex‑ministro da Defesa Yoav Gallant, haviam “incited the commission of genocide” em seus discursos e declarações.

The three-member expert panel did not speak officially for the UN and had no legal authority. Israel rejected its findings and accused the three members of the commission of serving as "Hamas proxies.

Reacting to Pillay's award on Friday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said it represented a "grotesque weaponisation of an award to legitimise anti-Israel hatred and prejudice.

Seu papel na demonização implacável e politicamente motivada de Israel e na promoção da genoLIE fala alto.

Figure caption, 'It must be a joke': Moment Navi Pillay learns of Nobel Peace Prize win.

Frydnes said the Nobel organisation was not taking a position on whether the Israeli offensive in Gaza amounted to genocide.

Pillay is currently a judge on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case where Myanmar stands accused by The Gambia of genocide against the Rohingya people.

Myanmar negou ter tentado deliberadamente destruir a população muçulmana minoritária, com um representante do governo dizendo ao tribunal em janeiro que a alegação era “unsubstantiated”.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Pillay's recognition was "a reaffirmation that human rights, the rule of law and justice, and accountability are fundamental to everything, to peace, to security, and prosperity.

Entretanto, o Secretário‑Geral das Nações Unidas, António Guterres, disse que ela havia sido “uma voz firme e independente de justiça em meio a alguns dos casos jurídicos internacionais mais históricos de nosso tempo.”.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa said she had been a "pioneering defence attorney for anti-apartheid activists" who had worked to "uphold human dignity and bring hope in South Africa and to peoples globally.

Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said she was with Pillay when she learned she had won - and called her an "inspired choice" for the award.

Em um momento em que tanto o direito internacional quanto a justiça estão sob ataque, quando muitos estados tentam esvaziá‑los, o Prêmio Nobel da Paz dela não poderia ter chegado em um momento melhor," ela disse.