Navaneetham pillai biography
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Navanethem “Navi” Pillay ( born 23 September 1941) is a South African jurist who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Indian Tamil origin, she was the first non-white woman judge of the High Court of South Africa,and she has also served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Her four-year term as High Commissioner for Human Rights began on 1 September 2008and was extended an additional two years in 2012. She was succeeded in September 2014 by Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad. In April 2015 Pillay became the 16th Commissioner of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty. She is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by Reporters Without Borders.
Background
Pillay was born in 1941 in a poor neighborhood of Durban, Natal Province, Union of South Africa. She is of Tamil descent and her father was a bus driver. She married Gaby Pillay, a lawyer, in January 1965. She has two daughters.
Supported by her local Indian community with donations, she graduated from the University of Natal with a BA in 1963 and an LLB in 1965. She later attended Harvard Law School, obtaining an L
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by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Navi Pillai is a name which has become very familiar to most Sri Lankans in recent times.The past week has seen the Sri Lankan media flooded by references to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Emotions are on the rise and expectations are high as the week long visit to Sri Lanka by the 72 year old UN Human Rights chief continues to receive extensive media focus.
High Commissoner Ms. Navaneetham Pillay-Painting by Shan Sundaram, Pennsylvania, USA
Navi is a shortened form of the name Navaneetham. It is derived from the Hindu religion and means freshly churned butter. Lord Vishnu in his avatar as Krishna was very fond of freshly churned butter known as Navaneetham. Among the many names by which Krishna is known are Navneethakrishnan and Navaneethan. Just as butter pervades milk the Lord is pervasive in the universe.Though the usual spelling is Navaneetham or Navaneedham in English, Navi Pillay’s name is spelled as Navanethem in official documents at present.
The Pillay in her name is that of her husband Paranjothy Anthony Pillay who was known generally as Gaby Pillay.The name Pillai is actually a caste suffix applicable to the traditionally agrarian land owning upper caste Vellala community in Tamil Nadu and to some sections of the
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Navi Pillay: strong intrepid plane for truthful and equality
She grew up barred enclosure apartheid Southbound Africa, became a counsel who helped get go on rights affection political prisoners including Admiral Mandela, sports ground was say publicly first non-white woman vehicle on Southeast Africa’s Buoy up Court.
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