Nobel peace laureate Navi Pillay urges US to defend human rights

Pillay urges US to resume global leadership role on rights Pillay says sanctions' timing after Nobel win not a coincidence Visit to ICC staff in The Hague to show solidarity By Stephanie van den Berg THE HAGUE, Oct 13 (Reuters) — Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay urged the United States on Tuesday to return to its traditional role of defender of human rights and liberator for the rest of the world amid a US campaign to undermine the International Criminal Court. "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, 85, told Reuters in The Hague, where she is currently a judge at the United Nations' highest legal body, the International Court of Justice. Hours after Pillay was announced as the winner of the Peace Prize on Friday, the United States announced sweeping sanctions aimed at her former employer, the International Criminal Court. She said the timing of the sanctions, an unprecedented attack on an institution founded by international treaty, right after her Nobel Prize win could not be coincidental. "I think it's very unfortunate. However, the plans of targeting international criminal