About the Member

Mikel Mancisidor took office as the Ararteko on 5 February 2026, following his appointment by the Basque Parliament for a five-year term.

Born in Bilbao in 1970, Mancisidor has devoted his career to the promotion and protection of human rights, with particular attention to cultural rights, both in the Basque context and at the international level.

He holds a degree in Law, a PhD in International Relations and a PhD in History. He has taught international human rights law and related subjects at the University of Deusto, Mondragon University, the Washington College of Law at American University (Washington D.C.) and the René Cassin International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

He began his professional career working with non-governmental organisations in Latin America. He subsequently worked in Basque civil society organisations and at Gernika Gogoratuz, the Basque peace research centre.

From 2004 to 2014, he served as Director of UNESCO Etxea, the UNESCO Centre of the Basque Country. During this period, he worked extensively at the intersection of cultural rights, education, linguistic diversity and human development, linking local and global perspectives. He was a member of the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Chair on World Language Heritage of the University of the Basque Country, served on the Scientific Committee of the Second Congress on Languages and Immigration, and contributed to the publication of Words and Worlds, a report on global linguistic diversity.

From 2013 to 2024, he served as an independent expert member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), including more than a decade as a member of the Committee's cluster on cultural rights. He also served as rapporteur for General Comment No. 25 on Science and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

His contributions to human rights, culture and the humanities have been recognised through the Gold Medal for Human Rights awarded on the centenary of the Liga Española de Derechos Humanos (2013) and the Eusko Ikaskuntza Prize for Humanities, Culture, Arts and Social Sciences (2020). He was elected Full Member of Jakiunde, the Basque Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.

Until his appointment as Ararteko, he served on the Board of Trustees and Scientific Committee of the Iura Vasconiae Foundation and on the governing board of the Royal Basque Society of Friends of the Country.

About the Member's Office

The Ararteko – Ombudsman of the Basque Country, created by the of the Basque Parliament’s Ararteko Act 3/1985 of 27 February, is the High Commissioner of the Basque Parliament tasked with defending the rights of citizens in relation to the public policies and actions of the public administrations of the Basque Autonomous Community.

The institution of the Ararteko is headed by one person, also known as the ararteko, who is elected by a three-fifths majority of the Basque Parliament for a five-year term. It is an impartial and independent institution that provides citizens with a public service that is completely free of charge.

The Ararteko supervises the actions of the Basque public administrations, either ex officio or on the basis of complaints received from citizens and is also responsible for protecting and promoting citizens' rights. The Ararteko's jurisdiction covers the actions of three levels of government: the Basque Government, the so-called Foral institutions of the three historical territories of our Basque community (Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) and the Basque municipal councils. Although its recommendations are non-binding, its auctoritas has granted the institution with a high degree of influence over the improvement of public actions.

As a general Ombuds institution, the Ararteko receives complaints dealing with a wide range of public services and actions, including social services, education, the environment, housing, transparency, equality, children and youth, health or, more recently, prisons, to name but a few. The Ararteko’s mission also includes the defence of language rights that derive from the co-official status of the Basque and Spanish languages.

The functions of the Ararteko include:

• Investigating complaints, requests and queries regarding incorrect or improper actions of the public administration. These investigations are initiated upon request of citizens or at the Ararteko’s own initiative.
• Issuing recommendations, reminding adminsitrations of their legal duties and rectifying maladministration to improve Basque Public Administration services.
• Publishing reports and research studies on public policies of the Basque administrations. These reports include a set of recommendations to improve protection and safeguard of citizens’ rights, particularly for people deemed in situations of vulnerability, risk of exclusion, discrimination, or social precarity.
• Conducting visits to inspect centres and facilities providing public services.
• Maintaining regular contact with associations and entities (NGOs) working in different areas of the social reality.
• Implementing initiatives aimed at increasing sensitivity about and awareness of human rights.

Key Information on the Language Situation in this Country/Region

The Basque Autonomous Community has two official languages: Basque, the region’s own language, and Spanish. The Basque Statute of Autonomy provides that every person in the Basque Autonomous Community has the right to learn and use both languages.

According to the 2021 Sociolinguistic Survey, 36,2% of the population of the Basque Autonomous Community aged 16 or above are Basque-speaking (680,629 people), 18,6% are passive Basque speakers (unable to speak but understand to a certain degree) and 45,3% are non-Basque speakers. These results show a noteworthy increase in the last 20 years of nearly 7%. While there is no notable distinction in Basque language competence by sex (Basque speakers are 0,7 points higher among women than men), age is a strong determinant among Basque speakers: the highest percentage of Basque speakers is to be found among people aged less than 35, in the 16-24 (74,5%) and 25-34 (54,4%) age groups. The group with the lowest percentage of Basque speakers is that of people aged 65 or over (22,1%).

In a legal context where two languages are official, the Ararteko’s remit includes safeguarding citizens’ linguistic rights in their dealings with the Basque authorities. In this sense, the most common issues handled by the Ararteko on language rights relate to the public administration’s failure of using citizens’ preferred language in their relations with the administration. Most commonly, these refer to the practical implementation of the right to be served in Basque under the same conditions as in Spanish, in particular when dealing with local and regional police officers and accessing public health services.