The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting and protecting human rights globally, with an emphasis on authoritarian regimes. HRF organizes the Oslo Freedom Forum. The Human Rights Foundation was founded in 2005 by Thor Halvorssen Mendoza, a Venezuelan film producer and human rights advocate. The current chairman is Russian opposition activist Yulia Navalnaya, and Javier El-Hage is the current chief legal officer. The foundation's head office is in the Empire State Building in New York City.
History The Human Rights Foundation was founded in 2005 by Venezuelan human rights advocate and film producer Thor Halvorssen Mendoza in response to the alarming rise of authoritarianism in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela.
His family's deeply personal experience with political repression—his father was arbitrarily imprisoned and his mother seriously wounded by security forces during a protest—shaped HRF's early mission to boldly defend individual rights in closed societies. HRF's founding council included figures such as Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and former Czech president Václav Havel, who called the organization "an essential voice for freedom" and later chaired its International Council until his death in 2011.
Initially focused on Latin America, HRF worked on legal advocacy, international litigation, and public campaigns on behalf of political prisoners. It later expanded its focus to the global stage, taking on cases in countries such as North Korea, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Today, HRF runs campaigns and engages in pro-democracy advocacy around the world, with a focus on countries classified as authoritarian or hybrid authoritarian.
In 2009, HRF launched the Oslo Freedom Forum, an annual conference that brings together human rights activists, former political prisoners, journalists, and technologists. The event has since become HRF's flagship initiative, expanding with special editions hosted in cities beyond Oslo, including New York, Taipei, and Mexico City. The forum also presents the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent, awarded to individuals using art to challenge authoritarianism through nonviolent means, as well as the Maseko Prize for lawyers who work for justice under such regimes.
Over the years HRF has developed campaigns to promote free speech, creative resistance, and information access in closed societies, as well as push global actors—individuals, corporations, and institutions alike—to cut ties with authoritarian regimes.
Garry Kasparov served as chairman from 2012 to 2024. In 2024, Russian opposition figure and global symbol of resilience Yulia Navalnaya was appointed chair, following the death of her husband, Alexei Navalny, in Russian custody. Her appointment was widely seen as a powerful message to the Kremlin and a reaffirmation of HRF's mission.
In August 2026, the foundation was declared an undesirable organization in Russia.
Programs and events Oslo Freedom Forum
The Oslo Freedom Forum is an annual HRF conference in Oslo, Norway, supported by several grant-giving institutions in Scandinavia and the United States through HRF. Donors include Fritt Ord, the City of Oslo, the Thiel Foundation, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amnesty International Norway, Plan Norway, the Brin Wojcicki Foundation, Human Rights House Foundation, and Ny Tid.
OFF is structured around sessions that focus on civil resistance, digital security, anti-corruption strategies, and storytelling in closed societies, often featuring firsthand accounts from those on the front lines. The forum also hosts the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent, named after the former Czech president and HRF board member, and the Thulani Maseko Prize, named after the late Swazi lawyer and pro-democracy advocate Thulani Maseko.
Art in Protest Art in Protest is HRF's visual arts initiative that supports dissident artists working in or exiled from authoritarian countries. The program provides exhibition opportunities, residencies, and international platforms for artists whose work challenges repression and promotes freedom of expression.
Art in Protest aims to advance creative dissent through global partnerships, art fairs, and curated exhibits. HRF describes it as "the world's only human rights-centered art program."
Celebrities & Dictators Celebrities & Dictators is an awareness campaign launched by HRF that focuses on the relationship between authoritarian regimes and global popular culture. The program documents how regimes use celebrities, athletes, influencers, and major entertainment brands to improve their international image and gain legitimacy.
HRF tracks instances of 'sportswashing' and 'artwashing', where repressive governments host concerts, sporting events, or film productions as a way to divert attention from human rights abuses. The organization also calls on public figures to reconsider participating in such events.
Flash Drives for Freedom
Flash Drives for Freedom is a campaign launched in 2016 to challenge North Korea's total control over information. HRF collects USB drives from donors, fills them with foreign media—including films, books, Wikipedia articles, and news reports—and coordinates their surreptitious distribution into North Korea via defector networks and balloon launches. HRF promotes it as a low-cost, high-impact weapon, designed to spark curiosity and break the regime's monopoly on reality.
Financial Freedom The Financial Freedom program examines how authoritarian governments use economic controls to suppress dissent. These controls may include surveillance of financial activity, targeted asset freezes, inflationary currency policies, and the exclusion of critics, journalists, and civil society organizations from access to banking systems.
The program supports initiatives to increase financial resilience among human rights defenders, including training on the use of decentralized tools such as cryptocurrencies, encrypted digital wallets, and privacy-preserving technologies. It also promotes financial literacy for individuals operating in closed societies.
In 2023, HRF launched the CBDC Tracker, an interactive tool that monitors the development and deployment of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) worldwide, with particular attention to their implications for privacy and civil liberties in authoritarian contexts.
College Freedom Forum
HRF also organizes yearly OFF satellite events in universities around the world. Called the College Freedom Forum, the event brings similar programming to the main event in Oslo to one-day events on university campuses. In recent years, HRF has brought CFF to several American universities, including Tufts (2013 and 2025), Stanford (2015 and 2024), and George Washington University (2025). CFF has also been held in universities outside North America, including Universidad del Rosario (Colombia) in 2017 and eight times since 2013 at Universidad Francisco Marroquín (Guatemala).
CCP Disruption Initiative The CCP Disruption Initiative monitors the policies and global influence operations of the Chinese Communist Party. It raises awareness of human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as threats to Taiwan and global surveillance practices.
The program also focuses on digital censorship, the repression of Chinese dissidents at home and abroad, and how international businesses and institutions may be complicit in censorship or data abuse.
Combating Kleptocracy Combating Kleptocracy investigates how authoritarian leaders use illicit finance, offshore tax havens, and legal loopholes in democracies to launder wealth, silence critics, and finance repression. The program advocates for reforms such as transparency in corporate ownership and stronger sanctions enforcement.
HRF also publishes reports on how Western professionals—lawyers, real estate brokers, and PR firms—facilitate kleptocratic behavior, and it promotes the adoption of Magnitsky-style targeted sanctions.
Digital Champions Digital Champions is a volunteer outreach program involving individuals who amplify HRF's messages and campaigns through digital media. Participants work with HRF's communications team to highlight the organization's advocacy across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube.
Champions are also encouraged to engage audiences on issues such as political imprisonment, press freedom, and global authoritarianism through original content and digital activism.
Dissidents & Dictators Dissidents & Dictators is a biweekly podcast and video series produced by HRF. It features interviews with human rights defenders, legal experts, and activists, often recorded at the Oslo Freedom Forum or in online forums.
Topics covered include censorship, disinformation, political persecution, and international advocacy strategies. The show aims to provide both analysis and firsthand accounts of life under dictatorship.
Freedom Fellows The Freedom Fellowship is HRF's leadership development program for human rights defenders working in closed societies. Fellows receive mentorship, participate in capacity-building workshops, and gain international exposure through HRF platforms.
The program is designed for emerging activists in fields such as law, journalism, education, and art, with a focus on sustainability and personal safety in repressive environments.
Impact Litigation Impact Litigation refers to HRF's international legal advocacy work. Its legal team prepares petitions to United Nations mechanisms—including the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention—on behalf of political prisoners and persecuted civil society actors.
HRF also files amicus briefs and publishes legal opinions related to freedom of expression, judicial independence, and electoral integrity in authoritarian states. The organization has contributed to rulings in cases in all continents.
Micro Grants Micro Grants provide small-scale financial support to activists and organizations in authoritarian countries. The grants are intended to fund short-term projects, such as educational workshops, human rights documentation, or creative activism.
The program operates with minimal bureaucracy to allow for rapid deployment and low-risk support for frontline initiatives. Grant recipients are selected through secure channels and impact is tracked over time.
Oslo Scholars Oslo Scholars is the academic mentorship program of the Human Rights Foundation, designed to connect undergraduate students with speakers from the Oslo Freedom Forum. Students are typically selected based on thematic or regional interest and placed in research internships or field work opportunities with human rights advocates.
Wear Your Values Wear Your Values is an awareness initiative by the Human Rights Foundation that promotes ethical practices in the global fashion industry. The program highlights labor rights violations in authoritarian countries where garment manufacturing is commonly outsourced and encourages consumers to demand greater transparency in global supply chains. The initiative includes exhibitions, workshops, and public campaigns at HRF events, particularly the Oslo Freedom Forum.
Other events U.N. Human Rights Council member elections In November 2012 and 2013, HRF co-hosted an event at the United Nations headquarters in New York with the Geneva-based organization UN Watch. The events focused on raising awareness of the election of competitive authoritarian and fully authoritarian regimes to the UN Human Rights Council. HRF brought human rights activists from different countries to testify about the abuses committed by their respective governments.
One-day Oslo Freedom Forum Offshoots