Trump seeks to abolish International Criminal Court where Prize winner had served
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| Committee honors person who sought to punish war crimes, rather than a person who commits them |
In its statement, The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Pillay—who
during her career served as a judge on the High Court in South Africa, her
native country, and later the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International
Criminal Court (ICC)—“has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes,
crimes against humanity and genocide
are prosecuted.”
Pillay also served for six years as the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, from 2008 to 2014, and more recently chaired the
UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, which generated a 2025 report concluding that the Israeli government had committed
genocide in Gaza.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Right after the Peace Prize news, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US is imposing new sanctions against the International Criminal Court, saying “We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate against us...The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC.” According to Euronews "The European Union described US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) as "deeply regrettable" and said it was "ready to take any necessary measures to enable the court to carry out its work'". - Will Collette
“The last thing I did is the report on Gaza naming what is happening there as genocide,” Pillay said Friday. “One of the main reactions to that report is paying tribute to me for my ‘courage.’ And you can imagine our surprise—why would you need courage to speak the truth?”
“Is it true?” asked Pillay when first notified of the award,
fittingly while at the Nuremburg Court where Nazi’s were tried for their
atrocities of last century.
In a moment of levity, surrounded by colleagues applauding
her achievement, Pillay said, “Thank you so much. If you clap a little bit
more, I may share this prize with [US President Donald] Trump.”
Trump, accused of war crimes himself, has notoriously said
he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize despite his record of violating international
laws, kidnapping or assassinating foreign heads of state, initiating wars of
aggression, and carrying out a lawless campaign of lethal attacks in the
Pacific Ocean and Caribbean which human rights experts have denounced as
“murder spree.”
Volker Türk, the current UN high commissioner for human
rights, said the award going to Pillay represents “a proud moment
for the global human rights movement,” and that to call it “well-deserved”
would be “a understatement.”
“At a time when human rights are under attack on so many
fronts, including from those who wield enormous power, this award is
particularly poignant,” Türk continued. “It is an award to all those who,
around the world, dedicate their lives to the defense of human rights—at great
risk to their security.”
Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty
International, called Pillay’s selection an “amazing moment” for human
rights.
“We are at the Nuremberg Court; I cannot think of a stronger
symbol for her Nobel prize,” said Callamard. “We are all so thrilled!”
“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. It is an absolute necessity,” the
Nobel Committee said in its announcement.
Warning that “the system of international law is under
tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack,” the committee said
“a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global
respect for law and justice” threatens peace and stability worldwide, a veiled
but clear reference to the antagonism the US government under Trump has shown
to the ICC, the United
Nations, and other legal institutions and frameworks.
“Whenever might overtakes right, it undermines
stability, trust and peaceful co-existence,” the statement said. And continued:
History has shown that a world operating without the rule of law is unjust,
unwise and inhumane. The judges – those who guard the thin red line between
order and chaos—are therefore highly deserving of our praise. But today, as
these same judges are sanctioned, and their institutions are attacked, we need
people of courage, vision and determination—qualities that Navi Pillay
demonstrates in her work on the bench.
Pillay, it concluded, “is one of the great defenders of
international legal principles in our time. Her distinguished career reminds us
of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law. Navi
Pillay’s commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and
inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world.”
As Türk put it in his remarks, recognition of Pillay’s work and legacy by the Nobel committee is “a reaffirmation that human rights, the rule of law and justice and accountability are fundamental to everything—to peace, security and prosperity.”
