This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Navi Pillay, has condemned the “illegal” sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump on the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the American leader “needs a lesson in international law”.

In an interview with AFP, Pillay also suggested that the timing of the US sanctions, announced almost immediately after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was deliberate. She described the move as “a reaction to the fact that the prize was not awarded to President Trump”.

Asked what message she would send to the US president, the 85-year-old replied: “Ask your legal advisers to explain to you what international law is (…) and why it is illegal to interfere in the affairs of an independent international court.”

The United States announced sanctions against the ICC on Friday, in a move aimed at paralysing the court’s day-to-day operations. The ICC prosecutes individuals accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Trump administration has pledged to systematically dismantle the court, angered by its judges’ decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.

Pillay pointed out that previous US administrations had applauded the ICC’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. “This is selective, it is double standards, and it is unacceptable,” she said.

‘Offensive and insulting’ remarks by Netanyahu and Israeli foreign ministry

The sanctions, which will disrupt the court’s technological infrastructure and banking operations, are due to take effect in six months.

Pillay also responded to Israeli officials who reacted angrily to her Nobel Prize, awarded in connection with her leadership of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which concluded last year that Israel was committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu described her as a “fanatic” who “demonises Jews”, while the Israeli foreign ministry said that Joseph Goebbels, the former head of Nazi propaganda, was surely “applauding from hell” the announcement of her award. “I find that very offensive and insulting,” the Nobel laureate responded.

“Goebbels had blood on his hands. He was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Not only Jews, but also people of colour like me,” she added.

Pillay said there was currently very little political will to arrest Netanyahu and bring him before the ICC to answer the charges against him. “But throughout my life I have seen people overcome difficulties, so I am convinced that it will eventually happen,” she said.

‘My age will hold me back’

Pillay said she was still coming to terms with the news that she had won the Nobel Peace Prize. She initially struggled to believe it, “because they award their prizes to very few women – a glaring inequality in practice so far”.

At 85, she is concerned that she may no longer be able to travel around the world campaigning for international justice. “I think my age will hold me back somewhat. I cannot be as active as I used to be,” she said, recalling that she had visited 79 countries during her tenure as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Pillay said she was consulting several people about how best to use the prize money of 12 million Swedish kronor (€1.1 million), but suggested that some of it could be invested in her native South Africa.

“Africa is suffering. South Africa is suffering. It is very difficult to raise funds,” she explained.

“The University of KwaZulu-Natal has established a department in my name, so I will begin discussions with them. I believe in educating children and young people,” she concluded.