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 2017–2024, where she was elected Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (2018–2020), General Rapporteur for Political Prisoners (2023–2024), and Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders and Whistleblowers (2022–2023). 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.

A graduate of Utrecht University’s LL.M in International Human Rights and Criminal Justice, Ævarsdóttir began her career as a journalist and human rights writer. She later served as a legal intern at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

Known for her principled and fearless approach to advocacy, Ævarsdóttir now leads Courage International as it expands its global reach and continues its vital work supporting truth tellers, journalists, whistleblowers, and digital rights defenders around the world.