(TibetanReview.net, Oct10’26) – The Dalai Lama has on Oct 10 recalled global human rights jurist Navi Pillay’s call on China to address the underlying issues in Tibet while congratulating her on being awarded the Nobel Peace prize for 2026 the day before by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Expressing admiration for having devoted her life “to the cause of people around the world who are denied their rights,” the 1989 Nobel Peace laureate has written: “I have long believed that a country governed by the rule of law, with an independent judiciary and a free press, is best placed to serve its own people and, in turn, the wider global community. Where the rule of law is absent, injustice and suffering inevitably follow.”
He has further said, “As a Tibetan, I deeply appreciate your efforts, during your tenure as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to call on China to address the underlying issues in Tibet.”
In its announcement, the Nobel Committee said it decided to award the 2026 award to the 85-year-old Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a South African of Tamil-Indian origin, for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
It called her a person with exceptional courage and integrity who led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order and who has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.
In her long legal career, Pillay has served as a judge on the High Court in South Africa, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. She was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008-2014) and, until recently, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Today Navi Pillay is a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar stands accused of genocide, the award announcement noted.
Calling her “one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time,” the announcement said “her distinguished career reminds us of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law, and that her “commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world.”
The committee said honouring Pillay is especially important at a time when “the system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack. 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.”