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South African judge Navanethem Pillay has been confirmed as the next UN high commissioner for human rights, replacing Canadian Louise Arbour. BBC Africa analyst David Bamford profiles her. Ms Pillay has set legal precedents on the treatment of genocide suspects Navanethem Pillay, known as Navi, is a South African of Tamil Indian descent. The daughter of a bus driver from Natal province, she rose during the apartheid years to become the first non-white South African to start her own law firm, winning victories for apartheid prisoners, including her own husband. She studied human rights law at Harvard, and with the end of apartheid, was appointed in 1995 as a South African High Court judge - becoming the first non-white to take such a senior position in the legal system. Her international career began with her eight-year... [read full story]
