WHAT IS IT?
The Observatory of Linguistic Rights, Behatokia, is a trust promoted by Kontseilua, the Council of Social Organizations in Favour of Basque.
Behatokia protects the linguistic rights of the citizens of the regions covered by Euskara, the Basque language, and its activities aim to guarantee those rights both in the public and the private area.
Behatokia works with neutrality and is independent from public or private institutions.
AIMS
In the regions where Basque is spoken, in Euskal Herria, not all citizens can use their own language. Euskara, the native language of the Basque Country, is not official in all regions, and the linguistic rights of Basque speakers are constantly breached.
In view of this situation, BEHATOKIA:
-protects and defends the linguistic rights of Basque speakers and condemns their breaching.
-Its aim is to guarantee Basque speakers their right to use the Basque language in Euskal Herria, their right to address the administration in Basque and to receive its services (health services, educational services, justice services, information services or any other service) in Basque, and to guarantee their right to enjoy the services offered by society in Basque.
FUNCTIONS
In view of this situation, BEHATOKIA:
-Gathers citizens? complaints... when their right to use the Basque language in Euskal Herria is not respected, when they are denied this right or when using it is detrimental to them.
-Processes their complaints... before public or private institutions, and lodges appeals in defence of linguistic rights when necessary.
-Carries out research and reports on the respect or the violation of linguistic rights... and presents them to Basque society, the administrative institutions of the Basque Country and international institutions, with the intention of showing the linguistic discrimination that Basque speakers are suffering in their land and to pressurize for these basic rights to be respected.
-Spreads the contents of linguistic rights... and defends them as the natural right of Basque society to use its own language in its territory and to standardize it fully in every social area.
-Promotes the public awareness of linguistic rights... among Basque citizens for the social presence of Basque to become a demand and a priority for all Basque speakers, and among Spanish and French for them to realise that linguistic rights are basic human rights.
-So that the key organizations of society use Basque... it carries out previous or prevention work to guarantee the social presence of Basque where the influx of people is greatest.
