Thor’s Passion

Thor Halvorssen has a passion for human rights. His background has given the fuel for this passion and the determination to continue fighting for the oppressed. A little background on Thor and his upbringing. He was born in Venezuela and is a descendant of both Venezuelan and Norwegian. Thor attended the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Political Science and History. This was preparing him for the future which he may not have even realized.


While attending the University of Pennsylvania, as a freshman, Thor’s father was placed in prison in Venezuela while investigating a drug cartel. It is believed he was considered a political prisoner. In an attempt to slow him down the charges of money laundering and bank fraud were brought against him. These charges manifested into a terrorism charge and resulted in Thor’s dad being beaten, tortured and almost killed. Thor came to action and worked with Amnesty International to have him released. He was eventually found innocent of all charges. This was a huge step in Thor’s progress into human rights. After this successful negotiation, he was chosen to be the Director of the Pan-Amerian for the International Society for Human Rights. The second major milestone was in 2004 when his mother was shot when attending a peaceful protest. It is obvious where Thor acquired the drive to do what is right and stand up for other people.


Thor leads and participates in numerous organizations supporting human rights and fighting for people who are unfairly treated. As the President of the Human Rights Foundation, he has been involved with the release of seven prisoners. He has written books and is continually speaking at events informing and encouraging people to stand up for human rights. He also heads up to Oslo Freedom Forum. This is considered a “spectacular human rights festival.” This forum is a unifying agent that has occurred annually since 2009.


Thor’s passion for other people is unmatched. Spreading his will and determination across the world and letting people know they can’t be treating wrongly is huge. Especially for people in the countries where they may not have the liberties of the United States.

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