Thor Leonardo Halvorssen Mendoza (born 1976; ) is a Venezuelan-born Norwegian human rights activist and film producer with contributions in the field of public policy.

Halvorssen is founder of the annual Oslo Freedom Forum and president of the Human Rights Foundation, an organization that states their mission is to promote freedom in authoritarian regimes. Halvorssen bought the Norwegian news magazine Ny Tid in 2010.

Halvorssen has appeared on television outlets such as Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and CNN. He was a speaker at TEDx at the University of Pennsylvania in 2010.

Background Halvorssen was born in Venezuela to Hilda Mendoza, a descendant and a relative, respectively, of Venezuela's first president Cristóbal Mendoza and liberator Simón Bolívar. His father is Thor Halvorssen Hellum, who served as a Venezuelan Ambassador for anti-Narcotic Affairs in the administration of Carlos Andrés Pérez and as special overseas investigator of a Venezuelan Senate Commission. His family was prosperous and on his father's side he is the grandson of Øystein Halvorssen, who served as Norway's honorary consul-general in CaracasAftenposten, 26 August 1947, p. 5 and who "built a family dynasty as the Venezuelan representative for corporations including Dunlop, Alfa Laval and Ericsson."Strausbaugh, John (August 19, 2007). "A Maverick Mogul, Proudly Politically Incorrect". New York Times. (Archived by WebCite here.) His cousin is the Venezuelan politician Leopoldo Lopez.Halvorssen, Thor (March 14, 2012). "Hugo Chavez channels the dead". Pittsburgh Post Gazette Halvorssen attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude with concurrent undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science and history.

Halvorssen's father, also named Thor Halvorssen, was a wealthy businessman who was named the CEO of Venezuela's state-owned telephone company CANTV. In 1989, then-President Carlos Andrés Pérez appointed Halvorssen Sr. as Venezuela's "anti-drug ambassador". When Halvorssen was a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1993, his father was arrested after a series of bombings around the capital city Caracas. His father had been working on money laundering investigations into the Medellin cartel and had been framed to stop his investigations. His father was beaten during his 74-day incarceration in a Caracas jail.Hilton, Isabel. "Presumed Guilty". Gentlemen's Quarterly (GQ) UK: July 1994.Fonzi, Gaeton. "The Troublemaker". The Pennsylvania Gazette (November 1994) Halvorssen helped organize the campaign with Amnesty International and other organizations to pressure the Venezuelan authorities to free his father. Halvorssen was never charged and ultimately freed after 74 days of detainment. After his release, the International Society for Human Rights appointed him director of their Pan-American Committee.Venezuelan Anti-Drug Official Fights His Foes From a Prison Cell: Evidence suggests Thor Halvorssen was framed by Colombian drug lords and their Caracas `friends'; Christian Science Monitor. Boston, Mass.: Dec 20, 1993.Former Venezuelan Drug Official Freed; Christian Science Monitor. Boston, Mass.: Dec 24, 1993.Halvorssen, Thor. The Americas: The price of vigilance in Venezuela's banking community. Wall Street Journal. New York, N.Y.: Mar 4, 1994. pg. A9 Available online here.

While attending a peaceful protest of the Venezuelan recall referendum of 2004, Halvorssen's mother, Hilda Mendoza Denham, a British subject, was wounded by a gunshot.Briton Shot In Venezuela. EURSOC, (August 19, 2004). Retrieved on September 14, 2006. Images of government supporters firing upon the demonstrators were captured by a live television broadcast. Olivares, Francisco. Otra vez los pistoleros. El Universal (5 September 2004). Retrieved on September 9, 2008. Fotos de la nueva masacre de Altamira, 2004.08.16 urru.org. Retrieved on September 14, 2006. The gunmen were later apprehended, tried, had their sentences revoked, tried again, found guilty, and received 3-year sentences for murder and for bodily harm.Revocan condena a 'pistoleros de Altamira'. Prensa.com (11 April 2006) They were released after serving six months in prison.

Activism Halvorssen has lectured on the subject of human rights including at Harvard Law School, the New York City Junto, the United Nations Association in New York, and the American Enterprise Institute. Halvorssen has also spoken at the British parliament for the Henry Jackson Society.

Halvorssen testified to the U.S. Congress that he was the target of a smear campaign by Fusion GPS, a private company that also targeted Sir William Browder and, later Donald Trump. Halvorssen provided testimony about Fusion GPS to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2017.

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education In 1999, Halvorssen became the first executive director and chief executive officer of the Foundation for Individual Rights Expression (FIRE).

In 2001, Halvorssen stated that, "Liberty of opinion, speech, and expression is indispensable to a free and, in the deepest sense, progressive society. Deny it to one, and you deny it effectively to all. These truths long have been ignored and betrayed on our campuses, to the peril of a free society."Halvorssen, Thor L. Campus Tyranny. Retrieved on August 26, 2006. In a 2003 moderated chat, he said, "History has taught us that a society that does not respect individual rights, freedom of conscience, and freedom of speech will not long survive as a free society in any form."Tests for Academic Freedom in a Time of War. The Chronicle of Higher Education. (April 17, 2003). Retrieved on September 9, 2008.

Human Rights Foundation Halvorssen stepped down as head of FIRE in March 2004 to join its Board of Advisors and announced the creation of the international group Human Rights Foundation. HRF was incorporated in 2005, opening its headquarters in New York City in August 2006. The chair is Yulia Navalnaya. He also founded the Moving Picture Institute.

At the helm of HRF Halvorssen repeatedly lobbied and advocated for the release of Chinese political prisoner Liu Xiaobo. In 2010 Halvorssen was special guest of Liu Xiaobo at the Nobel Prize ceremony awarding the prize to Liu Xiaobo in absentia. Halvorssen is identified as a supporter of Chinese Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer and has sharply criticized the Taiwanese Kuomintang government for its banning visits by Kadeer.

Halvorssen was part of a symposium by the American conservative magazine National Review to praise Augusto Pinochet, where Halvorssen was the only one also pointing out his human rights abuses.Knapp, Alex (December 13, 2006). Another Symposium of Denial. Outside the Beltway. Retrieved on February 21, 2010. Halvorssen has criticised several celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Erykah Baduh and Mariah Carey for accepting payments for their performances in countries governed by authoritarian leaders like Russia.Halvorssen, Thor (December 11, 2006). National Review Online Symposium. Retrieved on February 21, 2010.Knapp, Alex (December 13, 2006). Another Symposium of Denial. Outside the Beltway. Retrieved on February 21, 2010.

Halvorssen appears as a frequent critic of Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni and, in particular, the legislative efforts in Uganda to punish homosexuality with the death penalty.

Halvorssen is a critic of Hugo Chávez.Halvorssen, Thor. Guerrilla Nation. The Weekly Standard (January 26, 2005). In 2005, he wrote about what he believed was Venezuela’s anti-Semitism and the assault on democracy and individual rights in Latin America.Halvorssen, Thor. Hurricane Hugo. The Weekly Standard, August 8, 2005, Volume 010, Issue 44. Also available at Halvorssen's criticisms have also been directed at U.S. Republicans such as Jack KempHalvorssen, Thor. Hugo Chavez vs. the Media. The Weekly Standard (June 9, 2003). as well as Democrats including John Conyers and Jose Serrano.Halvorssen, Thor. Comandante Chavez's Friends. The Weekly Standard (March 11, 2003). Halvorssen led a campaign to expose Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov’s human rights violations and ultimately created a firestorm for Hollywood actress Hilary Swank after she accepted a cash payment to celebrate Kadyrov’s birthday. In the same manner Halvorssen has exposed payments from dictators to Jennifer Lopez, Erykah Baduh, Mariah Carey, Nelly Furtado, and 50 Cent.

Oslo Freedom Forum

In 2009, Halvorssen founded a gathering of human-rights campaigners and policymakers called the Oslo Freedom Forum. It has taken place in Oslo annually since then. Wired Magazine blogger David Rowan praised the event for its sessions "if the global human-rights movement were to create its own unified representative body, it would look something like this."

Children's Peace Movement Since 2009, Halvorssen is listed as "Patron" of the Children's Peace Movement, On Own Feet. Known as the "Centipede Movement" it is a Czech-based group that facilitates bilateral relations between children and adolescents in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Canada, and Norway with children in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. The previous Patron was former Czech president Václav Havel.

Film In 2006, Halvorssen executive produced Hammer & Tickle, a film about the power of humor, ridicule, and satire as the language of truth in the Soviet Union. The film won Best New Documentary Film at the Zurich Film Festival.Closing Night of the 2nd Zurich Film Festival. Zurich Film Festival (October 10, 2006). Retrieved on December 9, 2006.

Halvorssen co-produced the film Freedom's Fury which was executive produced by Lucy Liu, Quentin Tarantino, and Andrew Vajna. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film relates the story of the uprising against the government that occurred in Hungary in 1956.

Halvorssen is a producer of the film The Singing Revolution, a film about Estonia's peaceful struggle for political independence from Soviet occupation.The Singing Revolution. Official website. Retrieved on September 9, 2008. It has with 18.000 viewers become the most successful documentary film in Estonian box-office history.Singing Revolution. Estosite.org. Retrieved on February 21, 2010.

Halvorssen produced The Dissident in 2020, a film about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directed by Bryan Fogel.

Filmography Title Year Role Hammer & Tickle2006executive producerFreedom's Fury 2006producerThe Singing Revolution2006producerThe Sugar Babies2007producerIndoctrinate U2007producer20812009producerPups of Liberty2009executive producerU.N. Me2009executive producerState of Control2016producerThe Dissident2020producer

Awards and recognition John Strausbaugh described Halvorssen as a "conservative operating in fields more often associated with liberals .. who champions the underdog". Neoconservative columnist James Kirchick described Halvorssen as having a "burning desire to right the countless injustices of this world".

The magazine The Economist pointed out that the Oslo Freedom Forum struck a different tone than organisations like Amnestry International or Human Rights Watch. "Given his conservative ideas, Mr Halvorssen's list of heroes and rogues might differ from that of say, Claudio Cordone, the acting head of Amnesty". It praised their event as being spectacular, competition and "on its way to becoming a human-rights equivalent of the Davos economic forum".

University of Pennsylvania president Judith Rodin honored Halvorssen's achievements by awarding him the Sol Feinstone Award for protecting student speech.Thor Halvorssen. PublicEye.org Retrieved 26 August 2006. In 2018, Halvorssen was awarded the Millennium Candler Justice Prize, honoring leadership in effecting positive social change, presented at the Millennium Gate Museum.

Publications Halvorssen, Thor L (1996). Simón Bolívar and the Enlightenment, University of Pennsylvania.

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