Pillay held states and national leaders accountable and brought hope to victims of violence and conflict, and demonstrated a firm moral compass in her long career, the committee said.
“A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time,” the committee said.
Navi Pillay was chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory that concluded last year that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel dismissed the report as “scandalous”.
The peace prize is the fifth Nobel awarded this week, after literature, chemistry, physics and medicine. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won in 2025.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 12 million Swedish crowns, or about $1.2 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
The United Nations human rights office welcomed the news of Navi Pillay’s Nobel Peace Prize win, acknowledging her longstanding advocacy for human rights.
“It is amazing news, we need more dedication and commitment to human rights,” Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, told reporters in Geneva.
Navi Pillay was the former head of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and a former International Criminal Court judge.
In September last year Pillay oversaw the publishing of a report by the UN Commission of Inquiry that concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu incited these acts – accusations that Israel called scandalous.
“We hope it will encourage and continue to encourage and inspire others to speak out in protection and promotion of the human rights of all people around the world,” Mantoo said in reaction to Pillay’s win.
The announcement comes shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed hope that US President Donald Trump receives the prize for his “historic role” in helping bring Pakistan and India back from the brink of war.
“President Donald Trump played a historic role in advancing peace in South Asia. His timely intervention helped bring Pakistan and India back from the brink and secure a ceasefire, that is holding till today,” the prime minister wrote in a post on X.
Pakistan and India engaged in a military conflict in May last year, during which Pakistani forces shot down eight Indian fighter jets, including Rafales, and dozens of drones.
The war ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by Trump.
PM Shehbaz said that Islamabad had nominated Trump for the prize in “recognition of his outstanding contribution”.
“We sincerely hope President’s [Trump] efforts to promote peace and prevent conflict in our region receive due recognition this time,” he added.
