Attitude of the French State: Discrimination in the Name of Equality

Organisation in favour of the language rights of Basque speakers 1 Arsenal square. 64 100 Baiona ℡. / : +33 0 559594948 - [email protected] www.behatokia.org

Attitude of the French State: Discrimination in the name of equality

Addressed to:

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Pre-sessional working group, the 21st – 25th of May 2007

DISCRIMINATION IN THE NAME OF EQUALITY

"Je souhaite que leur enseignement soit correctement pris en charge.... mais je ne serai pas favorable à la Charte européenne des langues régionales. Je ne veux pas que demain un juge européen puisse décider qu’une langue régionale doit être considérée comme langue de la République au même titre que le français. [...] Les minorités n’ont pas à complexer la majorité, uniquement parce qu’elle est majoritaire” Nicolas Sarkozy. French Interior Minister 2007-03-15

"According to the principle of equality, French is the language we all share and therefore we ought to use only French. […] We should not succumb to the temptation to take the language issue too far. We all speak French here, so if anyone likes let them translate for themselves." Jean Grenet, Mayor of Bayonne, 16 Nov. 2004

Depuis plus de deux siècles, les pouvoirs politiques ont combattu les langues régionales. Certes, la république a accompli une oeuvre consideráble: la maîtrise de la langue française par le peuple, le recul des obscurantismes et de l’ignorance. Fallait-il pour cela nier les réalités culturelles et linguistiques de nos régions, au prix de la disparition de certaines d’entre elles? Jack Lang, Former Education Secretary; 2001-04-25

The Observatory of Linsguistic Rights, Behatokia, is a trust that Kontseilua, the Council of Social Organisations in support of Basque, has created. Behatokia deals with the language rights of the citizens of the Basque Country, and aims to defende that these rights are respected in the whole of the Basque Country, both in the public and private areas.

1. INTRODUCTION

Basque is the language proper to the three territories of the French state: Lapurdi, Low Navarre and Zuberoa. However, although it is their language, the state does not acknowledge its speakers' rights. In consequence, constant violations of language rights are condoned by the law.

The total lack of any legal status whatsover for a period of centuries has relegated Basque from public life and progressively circumscribed the historical language of these provinces to a diminishing range of functions.

For several centuries our language has existed in a situation of diglossia, held in disregard and excluded from the uses that tend to accord a language social prestige and value.

Yet another problem is the loss of speakers. Today there are 15,000 fewer speakers than ten years ago, and if the present trend continues the numbers will go on dwindling, since a large proportion of the present speakers are elderly people.

Here we see the evolution of bilinguals in Lapurdi, Low Navarre and Zuberoa over the past ten years:

EVOLUTION OF BILINGUALS

35,00 10,74% 30,00 8,97% 10,08% 25,00 13,92% French bilingual 20,00 8,48% 9,24% Ballanced bilingual 15,00 Basque bilingual 8,44% 8,98% 10,00

5,00 5,33%

0,00 1991 1996 2001

In this respect it is also interesting to observe the general percentages for bilinguals:

2 LANGUAGE COMPETENCE

100% 90% 80% 70% 66,90% 60% 73,56% 75,34% MONOLINGUALS 50% BILINGUALS 40% 30% 20% 33,10% 10% 26,44% 24,66% 0% 1991 1996 2001

Given these figures, it is hardly surprising that the 1996 and 2001 editions of the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing, published by Stephen A. Wurm under the auspices of UNESCO, list Basque as a "seriously endangered language".

But this is not just a spontaneous phenomenon. The state's past language policy and the non-recognition of languages such as ours have been directly responsible for the decline of Basque, and have put at risk the sociocultural survival of our language community.

A deliberately distorted use of the words Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité has given rise to an alarming situation with regard to the future of our languages and others like it.

2. CONCERNING COMPLIANCE WITH RECOMMENDATIONS

In its 67th, 68th and 77th sessions, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights studied the second periodical report of the state of France and on the 30th of November, 2001 made a series of recommendations in accordance with Articles 16 and 17 of the Agreement on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The state of France presented its third report on implementation of the Agreement on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the 7th of March, 2007.

Hizkuntz Eskubideen Behatokia, as an organisation for the protection of Basques' language rights, has read that report and wishes to present its own report concerning the French state's compliance with the 2001 Committee's two recommendations, and on the third report of the state of France. This report will

3 be presented at the preliminary work group meeting to be held from the 21st to the 25th of May, 2007.

RECOMENDATION 25.

25. The Committee suggests that the State party review its position with regard to minorities, ensuring that minority groups have the right to exist and to be protected as such in the State party. The Committee recommends that the State party withdraw its reservation with regard to article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and that it ratify the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, as well as the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

This Committee points out that the state of France has not complied with a single one of the specific recommendations that were made to it in 2001. That is an objective fact, although one which the state of France refuses to acknowledge in its own self-assessment. It has not yet revoked the clause from Article 27 of the Agreement on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; nor has it not yet signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities; and it has also not yet ratified the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.

Furthermore, despite three recent attempts to incorporate recognition of the existence of languages other than French into the French Constitution, none of these attempts was allowed to prosper.

These are the most recently attempts: On the 26th of May, 2005 four amendments concerning language issues were presented in a debate over changes to Title XV of the Constitution, but none of the four was adopted: • The following addition to the Constitution's second article: “La langue de la République est le français, dans le respect des langues régionales qui font partie de notre patrimoine” (The language of the Republic is French, while respecting the regional languages that form part of our heritage). • The following addition to the Constitution's second article: “La langue de la République est le français, dans le respect des langues régionales qui font partie de notre patrimoine“ (The language of the Republic is French, while respecting regional languages). • The insertion of article 53-3: “La République française peut ratifier la Charte européene des langues régionaes ou minoritaires du Conseil de l’Europe” (The French Republic may ratify the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe). • The insertion of article 53-3: “Dans le respect du premier alinéa de l’article 2, la République française peut ratifier la Charte européene des langues régionales ou minoritaires du Conseil de l’Europe” (With regard to the first paragraph of article 2, the French Republic may ratify the

4 European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe).

On the 13th of December, 2006 another unsuccessful attempt was made in the French Assembly to study a proposed amendment of the second article of the Constitution with the inclusion of a reference to other languages. It was proposed that the second article be reworded as follows: “La langue de la République est le français, dans le respect des autres langues de France qui font partie de notre patrimoine” (The language of the Republic is French, while respecting other languages of France that form part of our heritage).

The second article of the French Constitution continues to say simply: La langue de la République est le français (The language of the Republic is French), and that fact is used as a pretext by the state for disregarding this Committee's recommendations.

According to the report assessing compliance with the recommendations by the state, the fact that minorities are not subject to collective rights is not a real impediment for ratifying its position. However, while claiming it is not an impediment, there is no will to confront the real issue. How can one say that there is no prohibition at the same time as their existence is denied in agreements for the protection of international rights? What about the clause that has been added to article 27 of the International Agreement on Civil and Political Rights, for example!

To speak of prohibitions, or indeed to argue that there is no such prohibition, is quite unacceptable in the twenty-first century. The absence in the state of France of a prohibition against the use of their own language by citizens who live their lives in a local language other than France plainly does not constitute a sufficient guarantee of equal rights for all citizens. Nevertheless, in the examples to be presented below, we shall see that in reality Basque-speaking citizens have repeatedly been prohibited from using their own language, in the courts among other places. In many of these instances, then, it is indeed the case that the use of Basque has been prohibited.

In the courts ande elsewhere, the social use of Basque has often been penalised by the authorities of France. A notable example is that of economic sanctions against organisations wishing to employ Basque-language addresses and place names.

In its report, the state of France refers repeatedly to the many measures that have been taken regarding overseas speech communities. Hizkuntz Eskubideen Behatokia does not intend to enter into the subject of France's overseas departments or discuss efforts to respect the local languages there; but as far as our own language is concerned the French administration has definitely excluded the native population from participating in society while at the same time, on many occasions, giving preference to the use of foreign languages such as English, Spanish or German.

5 In its assessment of the Committee's recommendations, the state of France has evaded the issue of its treatment of the state of affairs of native languages on its home territory, because that treatment is indefensible.

The following are some of the cases revealing the attitude of the state that have been referred to Behatokia:

MINISTÈRE DE LA JUSTICE

Case 1 On the 4th of April, 2004, a judge did not allow native Basque speaking citizens to declare in Basque, and in consequence the trial was carried out without the testimony of the accused. Thus, the right of defence was also violated.

Case 2 On the 15th of April, 2004, an attorney deemed the exercise of the right to speak Basque to be a mere whim while justifying the attorney's use of French on the grounds that the use of French was imposed in 1539 by a decree of king François I.

Case 3 On the 9th of January, 2004, when native Basque speaking citizens of the two states (Spain and France) were on trial at court in Bayonne, the Spanish subjects were allowed to testify in Basque through an interpreter, whereas the judge reminded the defendants with French citizenship that since they were French subjects they were obliged to speak French. In view of the fact that an interpreter was present in the courtroom, these citizens answered in Basque, whereupon the judge did not have the interpreter translate their statement.

Case 4 A Paris appeals court judge suggested that the act of responding in Basque concorded with the aims of "terrorism" and used this argument to sentence a defendant to a longer prison term.

Case 5 According to a statement by a High Court judge for domestic issues in Bayonne, the language immersion school system results in pupils' "deculturalisation".

6 Case 6 Citizens on trial at a Bayonne court on the 7th of November, 2002 suffered grave consequences – police abuse, battering and tear gas – because they insisted on their right to declare in Basque, and a trial judge multiplied by sixteen the fine that had been proposed by the private accusation, on account of the defendants' insistence on their right to testify in Basque.

LA POSTE

Case 1 For a number of years a certain entity has been using a post office service called Postimpact, which may be used to send out circulars or advertisements at a cheaper rate. But now La Poste (the public postal service) has decided to apply ordinary postal charges for mail with addresses that contain Basque place names, and refuses to give the special price for bulk mailings.

Two main arguments were offered to justify such a decision:

• Technical reasons: The machines is only able to read place names that are in French. • Political reasons: According to the French Constitution of 1958 the language of public services is French.

The main unions at La Poste denied the validity of the first argument in a statement on the 8th of February, 1999, pointing out that it is actually quite simple to solve the technical problem adduced; however, no effort has been made to do so and thus stop this discrimination. It follows that the only real reason for penalising this entity is the argument that French is the only language permitted.

Case 2 A publishing company that needed to carry out a mailing and had used Basque-language place names received a call from the post office to say that the addresses must use French place names and threatening not to deliver the letters because the addresses were in Basque.

Case 3 In 2006 the postal service forced newspapers to acquire a particular computer programme that allows addresses to be printed directly on copies for mailing. This programme does not offer users the option of writing their addresses in Basque, however. Consequently, addresses that formerly appeared in Basque are now in French.

SNCF – SOCIETÉ NATIONALE DES CHEMINS DE FER

Even though the rail service is public, SNCF is a private company whose largest shareholder is the state. The state also has authority to decide what the company's language policy should be.

On the 16th of March, 2003, 630 citizens and a score of public societies, unions and political organisations addressed a letter to the Bayonne Subprefecture asking for steps to be taken to ensure at least a minimal use of the Basque language.

They have also carried out a number of other acts in support of this demand. But there has been no change in SNCF's services or at its stations.

What is more, the Bayonne chief of SNCF, Mr P.B. Tritschler, made the following statements to the press regarding these demands:

On the whole bilingualism is not possible since use of the dominant languages is compulsory according to international agreements. The purpose of spoken messages is to inform. To include Basque would result in confusion. It might be possible to make some headway with regional information, but that is not easy because of a lack of space.

The director of SNCF, Mr Louis Gallois, stated on the 30th of September, 2003 that the company did not intend to use Basque in the main stations of the Northern Basque Country. He said that since many international customers use such stations, if signs were to be put up in another language, that language should be Spanish (Castilian).

The €1.6m renovation plan for Bayonne's railway station was completed in 2006. Basque is totally absent from the new station, which is used by 900,000 passengers a year.

At the time, taking into account the fact that a great many things were going to be replaced in the station, many of the organisations that support the Basque language asked the railway company to accept a minimum list of measures to ensure the fulfilment of citizens' rights: bilingual signs, loudspeaker announcements to be in both languages, provision for attending to customers in Basque at ticket windows, and providing timetables and other information in Basque. All of these suggestions were totally ignored.

There is a new customer reception area where a screen instructs passengers to approach or to wait in line. Basque is not used here either.

8 Again, state flags are placed in each ticket window to indicate what languages are spoken. No provision is made for the identification of Basque-speaking staff, however. New ticket-vending machines have been installed which give passengers a choice of five languages, only one of which is an official language of the state, since the others that can be used are English, German, Castilian and Italian. Having the machine operate in all five languages does not seem to represent an obstacle. Yet according to the director, having it in Basque would interfere with communication.

To justify such outright discrimination, the head of SNCF for the Aquitaine area, Cavier Ouine, said: "Our national policy is not to accept local differentiation." How strange that local differentiation should not be accepted while the use of foreign languages is being encouraged at the same time.

RECOMENDATION 26

26 The Committee also recommends that the State party increase its efforts to preserve regional and minority cultures and languages, and that it undertake measures to improve education on, and education in, these languages..

As was pointed out at the beginining, the dwindling extent of knowledge of Basque among the younger generations is very worrying. The highest age groups show the largest proportions of speakers, and transmission to young people is on the decline. This may be attributed directly to the absence of a Basque-language school system. The data displayed in the following graphs clearly demonstrate the truth of the statement that une langue qu’on n’enseigne pas est une langue qu’on tue (a language that is not taught is a language condemned to die):

Percentages of bilingual citizens:

1991 1996 2001 Age: 16-24 % 19,66 % 11,30 % 12,19 Age: 25-34 % 25,91 % 13,60 % 12,12 Age: 35-49 % 31,98 % 27,40 % 22,95 Age: 50-64 % 39,76 % 31,78 % 29,85 Age: >=65 % 37,66 % 37,62 % 35,55

To deal with this situation, the state should certainly act to safeguard the future of the Basque language, implementing genuine measures to support Basque in

9 the school system as recommended in point 26 by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee.

Seaska is the federation of Basque immersion schools. Seaska's schools are the only ones in Lapurdi, Low Navarre and Zuberoa able to provide a complete grounding in both Basque and French today; consequently a significant proportion of tomorrow's Basque speakers will emerge from these schools.

Yet the state of France does nothing but put obstacles in the way of immersion- based education. The following recent incidents provide examples of this:

2004 • The Etxepare Lyceum in Bayonne failed to obtain the full number of teaching posts it ought to have received, and consequently Seaska itself was forced to create two teaching positions to teach 76 children, which is against the French law. • Seaska applied for a teacher to allow a third classroom to be opened, but was only given a part-time primary teaching post for 47 pupils.

2005 • The French government made decisions which not only resulted in impediments to Seaska's further development but even threatened the closure of some of its existing classrooms. In spite of the fact that the number of Basque-language pupils has risen notably, the French government education authorities refused to increase the number of primary teachers and reduced secondary teacher resources by twenty hours..

2006 • Although Seaska needed 98 primary teachers, the French ministry of education only allowed for provisions for 96, two of whom were only admitted at the last moment. Seaska was forced to employ its own funds to pay for the two remaining primary teachers.

• Secondary education also faced difficulties: Seaska was only offered the same amount as the previous year to cover the needs of the Lyceum and three schools, which meant that two extra teaching contracts were needed to cover needs. The Lyceum and three schools will have to attempt to cover the deficit by switching around teaching timetables and working together as best they can.

• There have also been a number of problems in the state schools. While the number of Basque-language pupils rises every year, in general the figures do not follow suit. In the department of Pyrénées Atlantiques, which covers the whole of Béarn as well as the northern Basque Country, there was an overall increase of three hundred schoolchildren this year, while the total number of teachers dropped by six in the same year.

10 • To take another example, in the town of Bidarrai (Low Navarre) a full- time Basque-language teaching post was approved, yet the teacher is made to teach in Basque only half of the time and in French for the rest, while another teacher has been allotted the other half of the Basque- language position's hours. There were also problems in Beskoitze (Briscous) and Angelu (Anglet) because the education ministry withheld teaching posts that had been requested by the parents.

3. AN EVALUATION AND AN APPEAL

Hizkuntz Eskubideen Behatokia (the Observatory of Linguistic Rights) points out that, as a consideration of the above arguments clearly shows, the state of France has failed to comply with Recommendations 25 and 26 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued on the 30th of November, 2001.

Furthermore, Hizkuntz Eskubideen Behatokia wishes to send out an appeal to this expert body, given the attitude of the state of France, and ask that it not only make these recommendations in the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights but also demand that effective steps be taken towards their fulfilment.

Having reviewed the present attitude of the French state, Hizkuntz Eskubideen Behatokia considers that the rights laid out in the Agreement on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are not enjoyed by local minority language communities in France.

The state should concede to Basque and other such languages the status they have due. Basque citizens and members of other local language communities ought to enjoy equal rights, and legal and administrative mechanisms should be set in place to guarantee that such rights are enforced.

For this purpose, and as a matter of priority, the state of France should remove presently existing legals obstacles by:

• modifying the second article of the French Constitution; • revoking the clause added to article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; • revoking the clause added to article 30 of the International Convention on Children's Rights; • signing and ratifying the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities; • ratifying the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages and honouring its commitments guaranteeing the rights of local language communities.

Only in this way will the slogan of égalité ("equality"), so often bandied about by the state, be truly implemented rather than applied as a tool for discrimination.

Baiona, Basque Country, May 2007

12 Appendix nº 1

Organisations working together in Kontseilua, the Council of Social Organisations working in favour of the Basque language, that created the Observatory of Linguistic Rights

ORGANISATION WORKING AREA AEK – Alfabetatze Euskalduntze Koordinakundea Coordinating committee teaching Basque and literacy in Basque to adults over 100 centres Antzerki Talde Amateurren Elkartea Association of amateur theatre companies Argia News & current affairs weekly Basque magazine Artez euskara zerbitzua Company offering planning, advice and support for the standardization of Basque BERRIA Daily newspaper in Basque Bertsozale Elkartea Association of Basque ad-lib verse singers and supporters Egan - Euskal Herriaren Adiskideen Elkartea Literature magazine of the Association of Friends of the Basque Country EHE – Euskal Herrian Euskaraz Association in defence of Basque EHIGE – Euskal Herriko Ikasleen Guraso Elkartea The Association of Parents of the Basque Country EIE - Euskal Idazleen Elkartea The Association of Writers in Basque EIRE The Association of Basque University Teachers EIZIE – Euskal Itzultzaile Zuzentzaile eta Interpreteen The Association of Basque Translators, Correctors and Interpreters Elkartea Elhuyar-Fundazioa Association promoting the use of Basque in the field of science and workplace Elhuyar-Aholkularitza Organisation designing plans for the standardization of Basque in companies ELKAR Publishing and distribution house Emun Organisation designing plans for the standardization of Basque in companies Euskal Editoreen Elkartea Association promoting publications in Basque Euskal Konfederazioa Association of over 60 organisations working for the language in the French state. Euskalan Association promoting the use of Basque in the workplace Gaiak Publishing house Gerediaga Elkartea Association promoting Basque Culture in the Durango area Goiherriko Euskal Eskola Kultur Elkartea Cultural associations for the promotion of Basque in all the fields Hau Pittu Hau Basque-speakers group of Bilbao’s festivals Hik Hasi Basque education magazine Hitzez Basque school for adults in San Sebastian IKA – IKAS ETA ARI Association of centres teaching Basque and literacy in Basque to adults Ikastolen Elkartea Confedearation of over 100 Basque schools Ilazki Euskaltegia Basque language school for adults Jakin Magazine on cultural issues Karmel Magazine of the Carmelites of the Basque Country Maizpide Euskaltegia Basque school for adults and boarding house Mendebalde Association promoting the Biscayan dialect Oinarriak Association of organisations working for the standardisation of the Basque in Navarre Osasungoa Euskalduntzeko Erakundea Organisation promoting the use of Basque in the Health Service Plazagunea Global services and advice for Internet, mainly in Basque Sortzen-Ikasbatuaz Basque-speaking public schools association TOPAGUNEA Association of 61 local organisations promoting Basque Udal Euskaltegietako Langileak Association of the staff of municipal language schools for adults UEU- Udako Euskal Unibertsitatea Organisation facilitating the creatin of the Basque University Ulibarri Euskaltegia Basque language school for adults Urrats Euskaltegia Basque language school for adults