INSTRUMENT OF FOUNDATION
FOR
THE INGE GENEFKE AND BENT SØRENSEN ANTI-TORTURE SUPPORT FOUNDATION
Preamble:
To be worded before October 28th 2002
This foundation is established in recognition of the vital importance of the international work in the fight against torture and also with respect for the exceptionally significant work, that has been carried out for decades by Inge Genefke, MD, DMSc. h.c. and professor Bent Sørensen, MD, DMSc.
Inge Genefke, MD, DMSc. h.c., Commanderof the Legion of Honour became a doctor in 1965 and specialist in neurology in 1982. In April of 1974 she founded Amnesty International’s first doctors’ group and thereby the medical work against torture. She founded the Rehabilitation and ResearchCenter for victims of Torture (RCT) in 1982 and then in 1985 the International Council for Victims of Torture (the IRCT). She was medical director of RCT from its founding until 1997, Secretary-general of the IRCT from 1997, Honorary secretary-general in 2000 and from July 2002 she was ambassador of the IRCT.
Inge Genefke has received 30 national and international awards for her work against torture. Among these are: Honorary Doctor of Medicine at the Universities of Bologna and Copenhagen, Dr. Nathan Davis International Awards, US, Honorary Craftsman by the Council of Handicrafts in Copenhagen, the Aristotle Award of Greece, The Right Livelihood Award – the alternative Nobel Prize, The Ebbe Munck Award, The Prisoners of Neuengamme Award, The Reader’s Digest European of the Year, Commandeur de la Legion d’Honneur, France, Gold Medal, Societe d’Encouragement au Progress, France and many more.
Inge Genefke is married to
Bent Sørensen, professor, MD, DMSc., Knight of the Order of Dannebrog, First class.Bent Sørensen became a doctor in 1949, dr.med. in 1958, surgical specialist in 1960 and specialist in plastic surgery in 1964. He was head of the Burn Department of the Municipality of Copenhagen until 1990. Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at University of Copenhagen from 1974-1976, Chairman of theEC’s(now the EU) Advisory Committee for Medical Training from 1975-1981, and president of the Medical Research Council of EU, CRM, 1981-1984.
In 1984 Bent Sørensen became chairman of the board in RCT; in 1988 he became a member of the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT), and in 1989 a member of the European Council’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture. (CPT)
By the establishment of this foundation it is our intention and hope that the foundation will be able to contribute to the continuation of the work that Inge Genefke and Bent Sørensen have carried out in the fight against torture.
The following shall apply to the foundation:
BY-LAWS
Section 1
Name
The name of the foundation is “Inge Genefke and Professor Bent Sørensen’s Anti-Torture Support Foundation”
Section 2
Domicile
The foundation’s domicile is the municipality of Copenhagen, Denmark
Section 3
Founding
The foundation will be established on the 28th of October 2002 by the signing of this instrument of foundation.
Section 4
Purpose
The foundation is a non-profit foundation and its purpose is to support work against torture, particularly in the following ways:
1.Every two years an Inge Genefke award of 10.000 US dollars is to be awarded to a person, who has carried out particularly commendable work against torture.
2. Support of travel that is associated with work against torture
Section 5
The capital
Subsection 1.
According to its opening balance of assets, the foundation’s capital at its establishment amounts to 2.300.000 DKK.
This capital has been raised as follows:
Donation from the foundersDKK. 1.000.000
Professor Bent Sørensen’s travel scholarshipDKK. 1.300.000 DKK. 2.300.000
At the time of foundations the capital is as follows:
a. Deposit in cash to the foundation’s bank account DKK.1.000.000,00.
b. Bond reserve in the foundation’s trust deposit, market value as of October 28th, 2002.
Subsection 2
According to current existing foundation legislation, the foundation’s capital constitutes its bound fundamental capital.
Subsection 3
If the board members find it to most agreeable with the realisation of the purpose as mentioned in section 4, then the board shall be allowed to come to a decision concerning the distribution of the fundamental capital, cf. section 7, subsection 1.
Subsection 4
Every additional asset, which the board has transferred to the capital or which at a later point in time should fall to the foundation by inheritance or gift, if such is decided by the testator or gift giver in question, is to be included as capital.
Section 6
The Deposit of Capital
Subsection 1
The foundation’s capital must be deposited in a secure manner, so that the value is sought preserved and in such a manner that yields a satisfactory amount. The board is allowed to place all of the foundation’s capital in assets without considering the yield, if such a placement in itself will include benefiting the purpose as mentioned in section 4, cf. below-mentioned section 7 concerning the use of the foundation’s profit and capital. It is hereby stipulated that placement in real estate and goods can be made.
Subsection 2
To the extent that the foundation owns real estate, the foundation is allowed through its ownership to carry out any legal act, which may promote the fulfilment of its purpose.
Subsection 3
The foundation can choose to derogate from the at-any-time valid public regulation regarding assets and incomes or other corresponding public provisions.
Section 7
The Awards
Subsection 1
According to the board’s sovereign decision the fulfilment of the purpose mentioned in section 4 is effected by giving out awards taken from the foundation’s annual profit and/or from the foundation’s capital, cf. subsection 2. Any activity, that is included in section 4, subsection 1, and is organized and/or carried our by the foundation itself, is to be viewed as an award that fulfils the foundation’s purpose.
Subsection 2
The board is not obligated to distribute all of the foundation’s annual profits. The profits can be appropriated until a later time or they can be used for consolidation of the foundation’s fortune. Thereby the board is allowed to award a previous year’s profit during a later year and is moreover allowed to all capital (section 5, subsection 2) as long as the award is compatible with the purpose stated in section 4 and the foundation’s financial position.
Subsection 3
Awards can be given to recipients in Denmark as well as to foreign recipients.
Subsection 4
Awards are given based on applications apart from the Inge Genefke award as mentioned in section 4 (1).
Subsection 5
Does the purpose stated in section 4 require it for the board to execute work or travel in Denmark or abroad such can be regarded as award work as long as it is compatible with the said section 4.
Section 8
Management
Subsection 1
The foundation’s highest authority is the board. The board may appoint an executive committee.
Subsection 2
The board consists of three to five members. The first board consists of:
- Jette Parker, Geneva
- dr.med.h.c. Inge Genefke, founder of RCT and IRCT
- Professor dr.med. Bent Sørensen, former president of RCT and former member of CAT and CPT.
- Consultant, dr.med Henrik Marcussen, editor of the periodical “Torture”.
- Christian Harlang, lawyer
Subsection 3
The founders select substitute members for one or more of the board members mentioned in subsection 2. Henceforth the board is co-opting new members by its own decision, thus so that at the time of every substitution, one must remember, that the board jointly must possess the qualifications as represented by the above-mentioned board members.
Subsection 4
The board’s work is unsalaried.
Subsection 5
If the board chooses to appoint an executive committee, the regulations for that executive committee are to be specified, cf. section 9, subsection 3 (2).
Subsection 6
The daily management of the foundation is as far as possible carried out by a board member (manager). The daily management is carried out according to rules laid down in the rules of procedure, cf. section 9, subsection 3, (2)
Section 9
The Board
Subsection 1
The Board elects its own chairman.
Subsection 2
Board meetings are notified according to the chairman’s decision or if another member of the board or the accountant requests such a meeting.
Subsection 3
The board forms a quorum when more than half of its members are present at the beginning of a meeting. The board lays down its own rules of procedure.
Subsection 4
- The board’s decisions shall be unanimous.
- If it isn’t possible to reach a unanimous vote in spite of 2 consecutive meeting and if it moreover has to do with a decision of material importance for the foundation and its relationship with the surrounding world, e.g. its position towards the annual accounts, then the decisions can be made with 3/5 majority of the members, whom are present at the meeting, as long as the majority is at least half of the board members. In the case of a parity of votes, the chairman’s vote is to be decisive.
- If a board member to a considerable extent has worked against the purpose stated in section 4, then the other board members in unison can decide that the member in question must resign from the board.
Subsection 5
A minute book of the board’s negotiations is held, and after a meeting a transcript of the minutes must immediately be sent to each board member for approval.
Subsection 6
The board can choose to engage a secretariat, which would attend to the various administrative duties of the foundation.
Subsection 7
The board can decide to delegate the responsibility of deciding upon the giving out travel scholarships to a committee that has been set up by the board’s center or participation of external persons.
Section 10
The Power to Sign
Subsection 1
The foundation can only be bound by obligations, if these obligations have been entered into by the foundation’s chairman together with the manager or by three board members in unison.
Subsection 2
The board can grant a power of procuration. The board can jointly grant certain persons, either members of the board or not, the power of attorney/written authority to carry out certain tasks/duties on the board’s behalf and thereby obligate the foundation.
Section 11
Liability
Only the foundation’s fortune is liable for the foundation’s obligations.
Section 12
Annual Accounts and Auditing
Subsection 1
The foundation’s financial year is the calendar year. The first financial year of the foundation runs from the time of foundation to December 31st, 2003.
Subsection 2
The foundation’s annual accounts are to be calculated according to the relevant legislation and in such a way that the annual account presents a true and fair view of the foundation’s financial position.
Subsection 3
The annual accounts must be prepared by a registered accountant or an accountant approved by the authorities. Furthermore the annual accounts must be signed by all members of the board no later that 6 months after the closing of the financial year.
Section 13
Amendments of the By-Laws
Subsection 1
If 3/5 majority of the board wishes to change the foundation’s by-laws due to substantially chaged conditions, then such proposed change has to be recommended for approval by the public authority of foundations. This also includes changes that need to be introduced according to tax and dues considerations in order for the foundation, to the extent that it is possible, to always be able to receive cessation or relaxation of the at-any-time valid legislations concerning inheritance and/or gift taxes.
Subsection 2
Its is the founders’ explicit decision that should the board find that the purpose stated in section 4 is best attended to by moving the foundation’s domicile, cf. section 2, to any other domicile in Denmark or to a foreign country, the board may decide so and recommend this decision for approval by the public authority for foundations, cf. subsection 1.
Section 14
The Dissolution and etc. of the Foundation
Subsection 1
The board, by unanimous decision, can decide to dissolve the foundation, if the in section 4 mentioned purpose is deemed to be best attended to by doing so.
Subsection 2
Dissolution can also – with effect from above-mentioned moment – happen as a successive dissolution through the annual awarding of the capital.
Subsection 3
In association with a complete or successive dissolution the awarding of the foundation’s capital must solely consider the purpose as mentioned in section 4.
Subsection 4
Furthermore it shall be allowed for the board to decide in unison to merge with another foundation with a similar or related purpose or to decide to divide the present foundation into two or more foundations. Concerning such decisions consent from the authority of foundations must be acquired in accordance with existing legislation. The authority of foundations sees to it that among other things that the foundation’s purpose can be considered as carried on.
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October 28th , 2002
As founder:
Oak Foundation
……………………………………………………………..…..
Jette Parker Alan Parker
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