Former Judge at International Court of Justice and also a former United Nations High Commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay has been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize for peace. Nobel Committee captured the spirit of her life long struggle for human dignity. She is a South African jurist of Indian origin and the recognition brings the global attention to a woman, who helped for strengthening international justice, defended political prisoners and fought for racial discrimination. 

She pursued higher studies at Harvard Law School, earning a Master’s degree followed by doctorate in 1988. She defended anti-apartheid activists including Nelson Mandela and was appointed as first non-white Judge in South African High Court. She served International Criminal Justice system Rwanda, which was established to try perpetrators responsible for 1994 Rwandan genocide including rape and sexual violence. The genocide had seen the killing of hundreds of thousands of people. Afterwards, Pillay served as Judge for International Court of Justice from 2003 to 2008. Later from 2008 to 2014 she was United Nations high Commissioner for human rights. She flagged human rights violations in conflict zones and called for protection of vulnerable groups. Her message to the governments across the globe was simple i.e. be decisive and hold the perpetrators to account. Peace can be long lasting only when the victims are not forgotten. 

She is presently an ad hoc judge in Myanmar genocide case. She led UN commission that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza, and she has been awarded Nobel Prize for ‘Peace’ for her efforts to promote peace and international law. Within hours the Nobel Committee announced the award, US imposed sanctions on international criminal court. The Nobel Committee in the citation puts, “The system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack.” And added, “we see a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global respect for law and justice. Whenever might overtakes right, it undermines stability, trust and peaceful co-existence.” 

Ever since he took over US Presidency in January 2025, Trump has been throwing tantrums about Nobel Peace Prize. His repeated claims for 2025 Nobel Prize for having ended eight wars, he denounced Oslo for an ‘indelible stain’ on its reputation as the committee did not award him, adding that he cannot make peace with Norwegian Nobel Committee.  He cited endorsement from foreign leaders, including Pakistan’s PM Shahbaz Sharif, for his claim. Hours before 2026 prize announcement Sharif posted on X, “President Donald Trump played a historic role in advancing peace in south Asia. His timely intervention helped bringing Pakistan and India back from the brink and secure the ceasefire……..We sincerely hope President’s efforts to promote peace and prevent conflict in our region receive due recognition this time.”

It was a monumental meltdown from a President, who has spent years making sure everyone hears about how much he deserves the prize. His tirades are now considered jokes and he is being compared with a child turning the dinner table, as someone else got the birthday cake. He complained that his diplomatic efforts in ending eight wars have not been recognized and he even had telephoned Norwey’s Finance Minister pressing for the award of Peace Prize in 2025. So much open lobbying by any political leader for the personal honor, is unheard of.  Even if Trump deserved to get it, it would have been difficult for Nobel Committee to retain their impartiality, had they recognized his claim. 

Once he failed to get 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, he went slow in his efforts to end Russia Ukraine war and as opposed to the narrative he exhibited before the world, he ventured in an operation to arrest Venezuela’s President Maduro and his wife. After the success of this short operation, Trump was emboldened and took on Iran with a hope to repeat Venezuela and get a similar result. But he faced uphill opposition and the war is still on. He started an unnecessary war, that resulted in choking 32% of oil flow from gulf countries to all parts of the world. The war in the gulf and Russia- Ukraine has sent crude oil, gasoline and diesel prices through the roof causing unrest everywhere. Despite causing turmoil and unrest among people across the globe including US, he again claimed 2026 Piece Nobel Prize. 

Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded 2025 Peace Nobel Prize. She went to White House and gave her Nobel medal to Trump in January this year, after Maduro was put in US jail. Trump shamelessly accepted the medal and kept with him. Machado expected Trump to order poll in Venezuela, but he didn’t. Instead, he made Vice President as Acting President. Vast oil reserves of Venezuela have gone in control of American businessmen since then. Some of them are Trump’s friends. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Gujarat recently to push for refining Venezuelan oil. India has technology to refine Venezuela’s oil, which considerable heavier as compared to the oil extracted in other parts of the globe. Where is the piece and world order, when the people of Venezuela have no rights over their reserves. The attack on Iran was also to gain control over the oil reserves. 

Machado, who had been in exile for nearly a year slipped across the border and announced that she was back in the country. She desperately wants election in Venezuela. US says it does too, but has not pushed publicly for a date. When Acting President is dancing to the tunes of Trump, where is the question of holding Presidential election in Venezuela?

The consensus among leading international genocide scholars, UN backed investigative bodies and human rights organizations holds that Israelis military campaign and seize in Gaza constitute genocide. 2026 Nobel Peace laureate Navi Pillay had overseen the investigation’s report on behalf of UN. Having watched all the tantrums of Trump to get Peace Nobel Prize in 2025 and also in 2026, the Nobel Committee has acted in just and fair manner. They have seen through the attacks on international institutions and pressures on international law.  They have also seen how might overtakes right compromising the stability, trust, international brotherhood and peaceful coexistence. Immediately after the award was announced, US imposed sanctions on international criminal court, the institution where Pillay worked as a Judge for five years. How can peace prize be awarded to a person disrupting world order? The award to Pillay has indicated that at least one institution Nobel Committee is not compromised. 

(The author, a former Head of Forest Force of Karnataka, is a regular TEW columnist on wildlife, environment, and governance issues.)