Jurist Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Hague, Oct. 10: Navi Pillay, the veteran South African-born jurist who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, made a name for herself defending the rights of Nelson Mandela and leading a panel that found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

She has also worked for years as a judge in international courts that have sought to deliver justice for atrocities such as the Rwanda genocide and to adjudicate divisive issues of law between nations.

Pillay, 85, heard she had won the prestigious award while attending a law forum in Nuremberg, Germany, the location of the trials of Nazi war criminals that helped lay the foundations of international law.

Pillay was one of the first judges at a court now under intense pressure from Trump

Pillay’s win brings renewed attention to U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on the International Criminal Court, where Pillay was a judge from 2003 to 2008.

The court was created in 2002 to be a last stop for the most serious international crimes, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.

The United States and Israel are not members, but 125 other countries have signed the court’s foundational treaty, the Rome Statute. The ICC becomes involved when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory. The court’s newest member, Ukraine, formally joined in January.