This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to human rights lawyer Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay, as Donald Trump was snubbed for the award again.
Pillay, a South African jurist, has been lauded for promoting peace and international law, from defending Nelson Mandela to serving as a judge in key international court cases.
The 85-year-old is a former UN human rights commissioner and was president of the international tribunal on Rwanda’s genocide between the late 1990s and early 2000s.
She chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international law.
The inquiry delivered a report last year concluding that Israel had committed a genocide in Gaza and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister at the time Yoav Gallant had “incited the commission of genocide.”
Pillay is currently a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar stands accused of genocide.
She “significantly enlarged the scope and impact of international law’ through her work as a judge on the International Court and as former UN human rights chief”, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the current Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
Pillay has a “firm moral compass”, the committee also said.
Pillay makes Trump jibe
Reacting to being honoured with the prize, Pillay said she initially couldn’t believe the news was real.
Telling a small crowd in attendance for an impromptu acceptance speech, Pillay said: “Your applause means everything to me. But, being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this thing.”
She then joked: “If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump.”
This was a reference to last year’s winner, Venezuelan politician Maria Machado, giving her award to Trump.
What Trump has said about the Nobel Peace Prize
The US president has repeatedly said he “earned” the award, as he made no secret of the fact that he has long sought the prestigious award.
He missed out on the prize last year, despite constantly repeating his dubious claims that he has single handedly stopped seven wars.
Earlier this year, Hunter Biden joked that he had nominated Trump for this year’s prize for “managing to end the war with Iran at least 38 times.”
How the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded
The criteria for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, which is one of five Nobel Prizes established by wealthy industrialist Alfred Nobel in his will, are vague.
It is a five-member committee who makes the decision, and it is the Norwegian Parliament that appoints them.
The winner is announced in October each year, while nominations close in January of the year that the prize is awarded.