Nobel laureate Navi Pillay calls U.S. sanctions on the ICC “unheard of” and “unacceptable,” warning hundreds of court staff feel under threat
South African jurist Navi Pillay, named the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate on Friday, condemned the U.S. sanctions against the International Criminal Court, saying the measures had created anxiety about the future of international courts and left hundreds of staff feeling threatened.
Speaking by video from Nuremberg at an event at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Pillay said sanctions imposed by one country against judges for issuing judicial orders were “unheard of” and “unacceptable.” The 85-year-old is a former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and former ICC judge.
Washington announced the sanctions hours after the Nobel Committee named Pillay as this year’s recipient. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would ban transactions with what he called a “rogue court.”
The Nobel award drew condemnation from the United States and Israel. The ICC also denounced the U.S. sanctions, describing them as an attack on the rule of law and the foundations of the international order.
