Please note that the passivity or refusal of states to develop measures to guarantee linguistic and educational rights has been highlighted in Resolution n° 2004/51, of 2004, of the Human Rights Commission, which in its second point urges all states to adopt all necessary constitutional, legislative, administrative and other measures to promote the Declaration and achieve its implementation. I speak on behalf of several dozen organizations, enterprises and other entities working towards the recovery of the Basque language. Basque is a non-Indo European language that is thousands of years old, which has survived the vicissitudes of history and the ravages of brutal assimilation processes. Today, thanks to the action of organised civil society, we have magazines and newspapers in Basque and we have television; we have schools that teach in our language through immersion; literature is translated both from and into Basque; our language is even used in a normal way on the internet; and yet the "powers that be" still have not responded to this fact with conviction. Ours is a people who want to live in the language of their land and have worked hard to achieve this. We want to LIVE, in capitals, and not to exist as second-class citizens. For us to live with dignity is to live in Basque. We therefore urge this forum, the independent expert and this institution to act to put in place effective processes and protocols to ensure the implementation of the principles of the Declaration, which will result in support for the right to live in our language, in the language of the land in which we live. Paul Bilbao-Sarria President of the Observatory of Linguistic Rights pbilbao@kontseilua.org Basque Country, 2012 November 27th