Thor Halvorssen - When the state becomes too powerful
Venezuelan-Norwegian
Thor Halvorssen started the ninth edition of his Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) in
May 2017 by bringing up the anniversary of Thailand’s military coup, in
addition to authoritarian North Korea, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia and
Turkey. In his opening
remarks, he recalled the global crises, wars and conflicts where ‘65 million
people are fleeing, about 280 million are affected by natural catastrophes, 793
million lack clean water and 836 million live in abject poverty.’ He added:
‘However, authoritarian regimes, dictatorships and democratic autocracies
impact more people than all of the above put together. Which is more than half
of the world’s population. This is what this year’s OFF is all about.’ Halvorssen stated: ‘In
our opinion, a true democracy has the following: freedom of speech, an active
civil society, separation of power, and fair and free elections.’
Background: Four days later,
Modern Times Review met up with the OFF leader for an in-depth conversation.
The motivation for his long term work for freedom and human rights is rooted in
the experiences of his parents: his Norwegian father was falsely accused and
imprisoned as a political prisoner until Amnesty and others finally managed to
free him. Halvorssen’s mother fared worse. Some 13 years ago, he witnessed her
being shot by the Venezuelan authorities, during a peaceful demonstration
against President Hugo Chávez and his politics.
‘The way I saw the
event live on TV, I thought she had died. It caused me indescribable amounts of
pain and anguish and a sense of unfairness. As a consequence, I bond naturally
with people who have suffered this kind of violence – it does not matter where
you were born or with what privileges. When someone you admire or care for is
attacked, we understand what it is like to live in a country where authorities
do not abide by the law. Even senior citizens, who only expressed their
opinions during a non-violent demonstration, were attacked by the state. My
grandparents were also present.’
Following this
experience, Halvorssen wanted to establish the Human Rights Foundation – also
because of his frustration over ‘Amnesty and International Human Rights Watch’s
lack of focus on Venezuela – as Chávez-sympathisers’. But, why hold an Oslo
Freedom Forum, here on the other side of the globe? ‘Because Norway puts
human value high and has never incited war.’ The fact that his
father was Norwegian is irrelevant, although the 41-year old Venezuelan reminds
me that those of us who are born into freedom in Norway ‘have a responsibility
to not forget those who incidentally do not grow up with the same
opportunities’.
Individuals: The conference
strategy was, as before, to present a series of witness statements from
vulnerable individuals: ‘We believe, although this may sound strange to the
collective mentality of Norwegians – that individuals really achieve things;
that the truth is that individuals, not the group, is at the centre of society. Individuals make a
difference. Someone else who spoke during the conference was Charlie Chaplin
himself – in an extract from his film The Dictator (1940).
Chaplin makes fun of Hitler’s use of mass suggestion; he talks about the
dignity of life and that soldiers must not allow themselves to be subjugated
into violence or blind aggression. Halvorssen introduced the excerpt by
explaining the risks Chaplin had to take, and that he was forced to finance the
film himself as The Dictator was banned at the onset of World
War II. The enormously popular film was smuggled into France, where several
soldiers – when they realised what they were watching – shot the screen to
pieces.
Halvorssen has a
vested interest in films… read more:
