South African lawyer Navanethem “Navi” Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 9 for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
Pillay previously served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014.Most recently, she chaired the U.N.’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The commission determined that Israel committed genocide in Gaza in its war against Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
Pillay’s win means that U.S. President Donald Trump has once again been denied a prize that he has long coveted.
He has long griped about not receiving the prize. He claims to be deserving for his efforts
to end a number of conflicts around the world.
Last year’s prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who built a movement that challenged the country’s authoritarian government.
Machado presented her award to Trump after a U.S. military operation in January that captured and ousted Nicolás Maduro, the country’s longtime leader. Maduro was brought to the United States where he is facing torture and drug trafficking charges.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute has said that the prize is non-transferable.
“The facts are clear and well established,” the institute wrote in a statement. “Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nobel Peace Prize awarded to South African lawyer Navi Pillay
