Trump Was Not The Winner Of The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize
- 9.10.2026, 12:58
A judge of the International Court of Justice in The Hague received the award.
The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a human rights activist and lawyer from South Africa, who served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014 and as a judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague Nawanethem (Navi) Pillay. The Nobel Committee in Oslo announced this decision on Friday, October 9. Pillay was awarded the prize for her “efforts to promote peace and international law,” said the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jørgen Vatne Frudnes, as reported by "Deutsche Welle".
As noted by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral convictions “have consistently characterized her long professional career.” “A common thread running through her entire career —from her early years, when she defended Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists, to her service as a judge in some of the most significant international trials of our time—is an unwavering dedication to the cause of human rights,” the decision states.
It is noted that Navi Pillay held states and their leaders accountable, while also offering hope to victims of violence and conflict. “In all her positions, she has consistently emphasized the obligation of both individuals and states to uphold the principles of the rule of law,” the committee in Oslo stated.
Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, now a judge at the International Court of Justice
According to Jørgen Vatne Frudnes, Pillay played a key role in ensuring the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and “with exceptional courage and integrity, paved the way for a more comprehensive global legal order.”
Officials in Oslo also noted that Navi Pillay “made a significant contribution to expanding the scope and influence of international law.” Over the years, she served as a judge on the High Court of South Africa, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the International Criminal Court, as well as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Until recently, Pillay chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Navi Pillay is currently a judge at the International Court of Justice and is hearing a case against the Myanmar authorities, who are accused of genocide.
The list of nominees included 287 people
This year, the list of nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize consisted of 287 people; their names were kept secret. According to media reports, among them was U.S. President Donald Trump, despite the war against Iran that began in late February.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to receive this award and, in 2025, called the Nobel Peace Prize Committee’s decision unfair. The award recipient, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, later presented him with her Nobel Medal.
Nobel Peace Prize laureates from the past five years
In 2025, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition politician María Corina Machado, who was honored for her “tireless work” in defense of the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people. The Committee noted her contribution to the struggle for a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo—the Japanese Council of Organizations of Atomic Bomb Victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—which advocates for nuclear disarmament. In 2023, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi for “her struggle against the oppression of women in Iran and her promotion of human rights and freedom for all.”
In 2022, the prize was awarded to human rights defenders from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine: the Russian human rights organization “Memorial,” the Ukrainian civil society organization Center for Civil Liberties, and the founder of the Belarusian human rights center “Viasna,” Ales Bialiatski.
One of the two recipients of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize was the editor-in-chief of *Novaya Gazeta*, Dmitry Muratov. He shared the prize with Filipino journalist Maria Ressa. Muratov and Ressa represented all journalists fighting for this ideal “in a world where democracy and press freedom face increasingly adverse conditions,” the committee noted. Muratov became the third Russian to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Before him, the prize was awarded to physicist and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov and the only president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev.
Nobel Peace Prize
The Peace Prize, according to Nobel’s will, is awarded “to the person who has achieved the greatest success, or done more than others, in the cause of bringing nations closer together and reducing the size of standing armies, as well as for organizing peace congresses and drawing attention to them.”
The Nobel Peace Prize was first awarded in 1901. The laureates were the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Swiss entrepreneur and public figure Henri Dunant, and the founder of the pacifist organization “League of Peace and Freedom,” the French politician Frédéric Passy.