Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir

Global Director, Courage International · Iceland

Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir is a human rights lawyer and seasoned international advocate, serving as Global Director of Courage International. She leads the organisation’s mission to defend press freedom, protect whistleblowers, and advance privacy and information rights in an increasingly dangerous global environment. Prior to joining Courage International, Ævarsdóttir served for eight years as a Member of the Icelandic Parliament (Alþingi), where she chaired multiple parliamentary committees, led anti-corruption and transparency initiatives, and worked extensively on civil liberties and human rights legislation. Internationally, she represented Iceland in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) from 2017 to 2024, where she was elected Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (2018 to 2020), General Rapporteur for Political Prisoners (2023 to 2024), and Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders and Whistleblowers (2022 to 2023). She authored over a dozen key human rights reports for PACE, including the landmark 2024 report “The detention and conviction of Julian Assange and their chilling effects on human rights”, which led to PACE formally recognising Assange as a political prisoner during his incarceration in Belmarsh Prison.

At BTCHEL 2026

All speakers