The Basque Country is a country. Although it is situated on both sides of the Pyrenees and is composed of 6 provinces it is a nation. And, as is recognised in International law, every nation posesses civil and political rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says the following:

• Every human being is born free and equal in dignity and rights (Art. 1)
• Every person has the right to nationality and nobody will have their nationality abritrarily refused nor the right to change their nationality (Art. 15).

In the same way, The International Charter for Civil and Political Rights says the following:

• Every people have the right to freely decide their future, their political, social and cultural status (Art. 1)

Therefore, the Basque Country also posesses civil and political rights: its own language, own history, institutions, the right to choose its own national president...However, far from respecting these, the French and Spanish States daily infringe these rights and impose their languages, education systems, flags, laws etc. on the Basque Country.

Faced with such antidemocratic imposition and violations the objective of the Bai Euskal Herriari platform is to defend the civil and political rights of the Basque Country. In this way to protect and exercise in a practical way such rights on a day to day level, driving campaigns of disobedience to the Spanish and French States.

In this way, we have organised the largest petition to date in the Basque Country, passing to Udaliltza the request that they create and make official a National Document of Basque National Identity.

This initiative is totally peaceful and democratic given that it is based in signing up to something of personal free will, without imposing or prohibitin anything to anyone. It's a collection of signatures, yes, but it is effective, as in means a practical exercise in the defence of the civil and political rights of the Basque Country, as well as a practical exercise of disobedience to both States.

Therefore, from the Platform Bai Euskal Herriari we invite you to work for the civil and political rights of the Basque Country. To do so in the belief that going for the democratic bet will permit us to reach a future of peace and freedom.