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Eritrean
Movement for Democracy and Human Rights
Held its Founding Congress
Successfully

By EMDHR Management Committee
1 November 2004
Pretoria, South Africa
The Movement:
ü
Founded by Eritrean
students and exiles in South Africa
ü
Committed to build a
peaceful and prosperous Eritrea that values and protects the rights of
its citizens;
ü
Founded as a result of
severe deterioration in political, economic and social developments
and gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Government of
Eritrea since independence;
ü
Resolved to promote and
defend human and democratic rights of Eritreans inside and out side of
the country, via legal and peaceful means, by enhancing the
establishment of rule of law and respect for basic human rights as
enshrined in relevant international human rights instruments;
ü
Cognizant of the
generations’ sacrifice to secure independence and democracy in Eritrea
and the current regime’s failure to realize our peoples’ dream;
ü
Convinced of the fact
that freedom, equality, justice, peace and dignity are essential
objectives for the achievement of the legitimate aspiration of the
Eritrean people;
ü
Underlining the
importance of a non-political civic movement in pursuance of its
aspired goals
Has successfully conducted its Founding
Congress on 31st of October 2004 in Pretoria, South Africa.
The report of the Founding Congress
follows.
Report of the
Founding Congress of EMDHR
After through and continual
deliberations of the Interim Committee and the various Chapters of the
Movement, EMDHR successfully held its Founding Congress on 31st
of October 2004, at the University of Pretoria Conference Room at the
presence of several of its members and representatives of various
Chapters.
The Founding Congress was launched by a
moment of silence led by Mr. Amanuel Kibrom who then briefly welcomed
and introduced the conveners with the program of the Congress. Next to
that, Mr. Daniel Rezene delivered the Official Statement of the Movement
which was based on the activities of the Interim Committee during the
last six months. He emphasized on the landmark phases the Movement has
gone through and highlighted on the successes and limitations during the
Interim Committee’s mandate time. Accordingly, in terms of membership
and organizational set up, the EMDH is believed to be in a better
position than it was before six months. Facing PFDJ, one of the
barbarous tyrannies, well equipped in terms of personnel and awkward
diplomacy, coupled with all the hardships of exiled life, the Movement
has efficiently overcome arduous challenges. This was acclaimed,
according to Mr. Daniel Rezene, as one of the best achievements of EMDHR
in the last six months.
He went on and explained that lack of
experience in organizational and institutional framework was identified
as one of the limitations of the Movement during the Interim Committee’s
mandate time. The fact that EMDHR came into being from such a background
meant that, to some extent, its operations were not structured in the
desired context. The number one constraint is, however, lack of
financial resources from which EMDHR is still suffering bitterly.
Without tackling this bottleneck, it was said, the Movement’s future
plans will definitely be limited only to certain activities.
In the next program, Mr. Haileabe
Kidane presented the progress report and financial report of the
Movement in which he discussed the priorities of the Interim Committee’s
mandate time, the tasks the Committee has accomplished so far and those
which were not accomplished. He also explained the reasons for
non-accomplishment of some of the tasks. Regarding the financial matters
of the Movement, Mr. Kidane explained the sources of funds of EMDHR and
their allocation together with the current balance. He also indicated a
full financial report which is underway by experts will be finalized in
a-one month period after which it will be dispatched to all Chapters.
Subsequently, the conveners forwarded comments and questions on the
above explanations which were duly attended by members of the Interim
Committee.
Moreover, Mr. Samuel Bizen
gave a briefing on issues such as the Construction, Name and Logo of
EMDHR. Mr. Bizen asserted that the original Constitution of the Movement
was amended in accordance with the comments forwarded from various
Chapters in such a way that it could accommodate the desires of members.
One of the principal amendments introduced in the Constitution is the
incorporation of a new body which didn’t appear in the previous
Constitution. That body is the General Council as provided by Clauses
7.2 and 9 of the amended Constitution. The conveners were then briefed
on some of the main issues that had to be forwarded for a vote by the
Congress. These include the Name and Logo of the Movement as well as the
amount of membership fee.
From the list of names forwarded for
vote, the conveners overwhelmingly chose the name: Eritrean Movement for
Democracy and Human Rights. Previously, the Movement was known as
“Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights – South Africa”.
According to the newly adopted name, the suffix “South Africa” will be
removed from the official name of the organization. Other alternative
names that didn’t secure enough vote included: Eritrean Civic Movement,
Eritrean Civil Society for Human Rights, Eritrean Civic Movement – South
Africa and Eritreans for Democracy and Human Rights.
The other issue, which was decided by
vote, is the choice of the Logo of EMDHR. Out of the three options, the
Congress voted for the one which depicts a woman and a man holding hand
in hand on the one side, and grabbing a torch in unison on the other
side, appearing on a background of the historic olive leaf. Once the
Congress voted on the Name and Logo of EMDHR, Mr. Amanuel Kibrom, the
leader of the Founding Congress, announced the official ratification of
the Movement’s Constitution along with the Logo and Name of the
organization. The Congress then applauded the result with joy and
excitement. On the issue of membership fees, the Congress, taking into
account the financial position of the majority of members and the
standard of living in South Africa, decided an amount which was believed
to be reasonable by the Congress.
In the afternoon session, the Congress
conducted the election of members of the Management Committee, the Audit
Committee and additional members of the General Council. Before that,
Mr. Andom Mesfin briefed the Congress on the election procedures which
were adopted as follows.
According to the amendments to the
ratified Constitution, the organizational structure of EMDHR is divided
into four organs. It includes the Annual Congress, the General Council,
the Management Committee and the Audit Committee. The latter organ is
that which controls the financial matters of the Movement. The
Management Committee is the executive organ of EMHDR which conducts the
day-to-day activities of the organization. The General Council oversees
the activities of the Management Committee and serves as a bridge of
communication between the Annual Congress and the Management Committee.
The Annual Congress is constituted by all members of EMDHR whose primary
task is to directly or indirectly elect organs of the Movement and vote
on issues of paramount importance.
According to the current
organizational structure and financial limitations of the Movement, all
members of the organization were not able to participate on the Founding
Congress. As a result, election of Management Committee members could
not have been possibly conducted through direct votes. The only
practical way was to indirectly elect members of the Management
Committee via the votes of the General Council members who represented
democratically every Chapter. General Council members who represented
their respective Chapters are nineteen in number. These are:
KwaZulu-Natal Chapter:
1.
Mr. Amanuel Kibrom
2.
Mr. Biniam Tesfamariam
3.
Mr. Binyam Yemane
Free State Chapter
4.
Mr. Abraham Rezene Tesfay
5.
Mr. Daniel Rezene Mekonnen
Western Cape Chapter
6.
Mr. Buruk Tekle
7.
Mr. Henok Hadgu
8.
Mr. Yared Teka
Pretoria Chapter
9.
Mr. Isaias Haile
10.
Mr. Fessehaye Gebregziabher
11.
Mr. Yohannes Tsegay
Johannesburg Chapter
12.
Mr. Kuluberhan Abraham
13.
Mr. Gebrelul Hayelom
14.
Mr. Abdelwas’e Mohammed Hadish
15.
Mr. Tesfalem Tekleab
Petersburg Chapter
16.
Mr. Said Abdelkerim
17.
Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed
18.
Mr. Efrem Tesfamichael
Germiston Chapter
19.
Mr. Isaias Gebreberhan
Additional members of the General
Council elected by the Congress
20.
Mr. Esayas Araia
21.
Mr. Berhanu Mohammed Said
22.
Mr. Mussie Beyene
23.
Mr. Toedros Ghezae
Once the General Council was
constituted democratically by a total number of twenty-three members,
and then it democratically elected three members of the Audit Committee
and five members of the Management Committee. Accordingly, the elected
members of the Audit Committee are:
1.
Mr. Kidanemariam Habtemariam
2.
Mr. Yosief Teklemariam
3.
Mr. Mihreteab Ghebrehiwet
The elected members of the Management
Committee are:
1.
Mr. Samuel Bizen – Chairperson
2.
Mr. Andom Mesfin – Director of Finance and Administration
3.
Mr. Haileab Kidane – Director of Public Relations
4.
Mr. Yoel Alem – Director of Legal Affairs
5.
Mr. Fanuel Mesfin – Director of Research and Documentation
Lastly, members of the Management
Committee solemnly sworn, pursuant to the Constitution of EMDHR, to
obey, respect and uphold the Constitution of the Movement and undertook
to hold their positions with honor and dignity; to be true and faithful
counselors; not to divulge directly or indirectly any secret matter
entrusted to them; and to perform their duties carefully and to the best
of their ability.
At the conclusion of the successful
Founding Congress the Movement and its members reaffirmed their promise
to build a peaceful and prosperous Eritrea that protects and values the
rights of its citizens.
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