Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay calls on the US to restore global human rights leadership by defending freedom and promoting justice worldwide.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay has urged the United States to return to its traditional role as a global defender of human rights, amid growing tensions over Washington’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Speaking to Reuters in The Hague on Tuesday, the 85-year-old South African jurist called on Washington to demonstrate leadership by promoting freedom and justice around the world.
“My message is: ‘You have to get back to playing your serious role as a leader, playing a liberatory role for the rest of the world’,” Pillay said.
Her appeal came days after the US announced sweeping sanctions against the ICC, just hours after she was named the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Pillay questioned the timing of the measures, describing them as an unprecedented attack on an institution established through an international treaty. She said efforts to target international criminal justice through the court had been developing for some time.
Following her return from Nuremberg to The Hague, Pillay said she visited ICC staff to express solidarity with their work in advancing international criminal justice and supporting individuals already affected by sanctions.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the ICC as a “rogue court” on Friday, insisting that the Trump administration would not allow the institution to prosecute American citizens.
The sanctions include a six-month grace period and exemptions for certain transactions involving telecommunications, software, pension payments and detainees.
Washington has long opposed the ICC’s jurisdiction, particularly its authority to prosecute individuals accused of committing serious international crimes on the territory of member states, even when the suspects are nationals of countries that have not joined the court.
The Trump administration’s latest measures have intensified concerns about international accountability and the ability of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute serious crimes.
