The Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Right (EMDHR) is an autonomous and non-profit civic organization. It is independent of any government, political affiliation, economic interest or religion.
It was founded in 2004 by Eritreans in the Republic of South Africa in response to the absence of civil, democratic rights and rule of law in #Eritrea. Today, @emdhrorg has members from all over the world, including Executive Committee and Board members based in the UK.
Much of EMDHRs work focuses on advocacy & lobbying governments and international organizations to advance human rights in #Eritrea and to ensure the protection of Eritrean refugees. EMDHR works in partnership with a range of Eritrean & non-Eritrean NGOs to fulfill its objectives.
Few of the many notable @emdhrorg's achievements include:
1. In 2006, #EMDHR published a manual in Tigrigna, titled Bidho Antsar Atehasasbana (Challenging Our Perceptions) on active, non-violent struggle against dictatorship.
2. In 2015, the EMDHR provided legal support for 10 members of the Eritrean football team who refused to return to Eritrea following a world cup qualification match in #Botswana. The players were subsequently granted asylum on the 28th October 2015. emdhr.net.za/2015/01/28/eri…
3. Here is Helen Kidan @helskid one of EMDHR's executive committee members advocating for the rights of Eritrean women specifically citing sexual violence against girls & women during military service & how this has led to increased early marriages to avoid conscription.
4. Very recently, EMDHR has been actively campaigning for the release of 5 Eritrean refugees who were detained in Egypt in July 2019 after a peaceful protest outside the UNHCR office in Cairo.
In conjunction with other organizations, #EMDHR ensured that the 5 Eritreans would not be deported back to Eritrea. The 5 players were finally released on bail on October 27 and EMDHR continues to advocate for the protection of refugees and asylum to in Egypt.
Please join @BeqaYiakl in acknowledging & thanking all members of #EMDHR all over the world who started the fight for justice & rule of law 15 years ago & continue to do so until our #Eritrea is free of dictatorship!
Lidiya is a 21 years old prominent activist & organizer who has been passionately involved with her Eritrean community from a very young age.
Ever since she witnessed the daunting & overwhelming plight of Eritrean refugees in Libya, Lidiya got determined not to sit back & watch.
Instead, she picked up the slack left by the organizations which simply abandoned these refugees, and found a way to provide financial and moral support to these refugees and make meaningful contributions to help ease their suffering.
Today’s #Yiakl#SundaySpotlight goes out to Habtom Yohannes (@Kinzareb) in acknowledgment of his long-standing unwavering advocacy for Eritrean Prisoners of Conscience and his passion to support Eritreans with his expertise in journalism.
Habtom Yohannes is an Eritrean-Dutch human rights activist, a senior editor with extensive experience within the Dutch media, lecturer, advisor & moderator. He continuously raises the issues of #Eritrea|n prisoners & uses every opportunity/platform to demand that they get justice
As a passionate activist, he has been putting the violation of human rights in #Eritrea on the agenda of the Dutch parliament, the European Parliament, the African Union and the United Nations. @Europarl_EN@_AfricanUnion@UN
Today’s #Yiakl#SundaySpotlight goes out to the organizers of @RemEPOC in acknowledgment of their important initiative to help keep the memories of disappeared Eritreans alive until they get justice.
Remembering Eritrean Prisoners of Conscience @RemEPOC is a social media campaign that is dedicated to daily remembering at least one Eritrean Prisoner of Conscience and an accompanying daily narrative of the human rights situation of #Eritrea.
#Eritrea today is a country where its best daughters & sons, including its sheiks, priests, pastors, ministers, diplomats, civil servants, army leaders, teachers, conscripts, poets, newspaper editors, singers, merchants, veterans and faith communities are illegally disappeared.
Today’s #Yiakl#SundaySpotlight goes out to Tsedal Yohannes in acknowledgment of her perseverance, commitment and courage to advocate for #Eritrean prisoners of conscience.
Despite the emotional toll, Tsedal is a very determined woman who is oftentimes seen in the streets of London, Geneva, Brussels and other parts of the world campaigning for the rights of #Eritrea|n prisoners.
Today’s #Yiakl#SundaySpotlight goes out to Ahmed Raji in acknowledgment of his consistent work as a citizen journalist and his commitment to highlighting and archiving the stories of disappeared #Eritrean|s.
Ahmed as a citizen journalist and a strong advocate for #Eritrean prisoners of consciences is a frequent writer at @awate2 and archives disappeared Eritreans stories on his Facebook page - "Eritrea's Disappeared".
Ahmed started writing at @awate2 in 2003 while still living in Asmara, #Eritrea. In order to protect his identity, the Awate Team gave him the name “Events Monitor”.
Today’s #Yiakl#SundaySpotlight is dedicated to Eritrean activists and campaigners who have actively been addressing the very urgent issue of famine happening in #Eritrea.
This is an acknowledgment to the organizers of #EritreanHiddenFamine and #SaveDenkalia of their quick action in raising awareness to the famine brought by the Eritrean government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the government of Eritrea announced a lock down of many parts of the country due to COVID-19, reports of people starving and pleading families in the diaspora for help started surfacing. #EritreanHiddenFamine#SaveDankalia