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 31^st 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 EMDHR 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.