Iran: No Yoga
The morality police are again active. This one sounds like an act of private revenge.
Iran police arrest 30 at private yoga class
Thirty people taking part in a yoga session have been arrested during a private class in Iran, reports suggest, causing a buzz across the country's social media.
They were detained at a private residence in the northern city of Gorgan, where they were apparently taking part in a mixed class.
Local justice department official Massoud Soleimani said the instructor, who was also arrested, had no licence to run the class and had advertised the event on Instagram.
He also said that those taking part were wearing "inappropriate outfits" and had "behaved inappropriately", the Tasnim news agency reports.
The Islamic establishment in Iran does not allow any mixed-gender sports activities.
Professional-level yoga teaching is also banned in the country.
Mr Soleimani, the deputy chief of the Islamic Revolution Court in Gorgan which is the capital of Golestan Province, did not give any more details about the attire or behaviour of the detained group.
He did say that security forces had been monitoring the residence for some time before making the arrests…
In 2017, Iranian sports authorities issued a ban on Colombian dance aerobics exercise zumba and "any harmonious movement or body-shaking instruction".
Back then Iran's Sport for All Federation penned a letter to Iran's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to ban activities, including zumba, for contravening "Islamic ideology".
While there have have been public gatherings of yoga fans in the country over the past few years, "underground" and "unIslamic" classes, which are promoted across social media, are frowned upon…
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Labels: civil liberties, Iran, political culture
Limits on Communist Party members in China
While Party membership is a desirable perk for many people in China (
guanxi), it comes with some real limitations.
China Communist Party members face tighter curbs on internet use
China’s Communist Party is curbing the online activities of its 89 million members ahead of a leadership shake-up later this year.
The new rules made public on Tuesday said that all party cadres faced punishment if they visited “illegal websites” or disclosed party and state secrets online.
Cadres need permission from the party before registering social media accounts or setting up a WeChat group that contains their job information, the party’s personnel, propaganda and cyber watchdog said…
The new measures follow a surge in restrictions on free expression ahead of the 19th party congress, a meeting of the senior leadership that will mark the halfway point for President Xi Jinping’s presumed term in office. The president has recently warned military and government officials to stay loyal.
China already blocks access to Twitter, Facebook and news websites such as The New York Times. Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service was partially blocked in China in July, and the government has also begun cracking down on virtual private networks – technology that allows users to route their data overseas to get around the Beijing’s internet firewall…
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Labels: China, civil liberties, Communist Party, guanxi
Political spying in Mexico
Another bit of political culture in Mexico. How vital is spying to the PRI's power?
Government Spying Allegations in Mexico Spur Calls for Inquiry
After reports this week that sophisticated government-owned surveillance software was used to spy on some of Mexico’s most prominent journalists and activists, victims and others have demanded an independent inquiry into the allegations.
The calls came in response to an article by The New York Times and to a parallel report by several Mexican and international organizations, both of which found that the Israeli-made spyware, which was sold to the Mexican government on the strict condition that it be used only against terrorists and criminal groups, was deployed against some of the government’s most outspoken critics.
The software, called Pegasus, can infiltrate a smartphone and allow spies to monitor all activity on it, including calls, texts and emails…
Those calling for an investigation say the only way a truly independent inquiry can be guaranteed is to bring in an international team of experts…
A spokesman for the Peña Nieto administration [said] “For the government of the republic, the respect of privacy and the protection of personal data of all individuals are inherent values of our liberty, democracy and rule of law,”
Still, the findings provoked broad outrage, with many laying responsibility — if not for the spying itself, then at least to initiate a thorough inquiry — on the shoulders of the administration.
“This new, chilling evidence confirms that Mexican journalists and human rights defenders are a target of illegal practices designed to interfere and hinder their work,” Erika Guevara-Rosas, the Americas director at Amnesty International, said in a statement. The findings “show a clear pattern of illegal use of technology in an attempt to control any criticism against those in power.”…
The findings this week “only add to the idea that, rather than protecting the press, the Mexican government views it as a dissident group or even as an enemy,” Guillermo Osorno, a founder of Horizontal.mx, a digital magazine…
But the reaction was also mitigated somewhat by a certain cynicism in a country where wiretapping has been a time-honored tradition in politics, and allegations of spying by the government against its critics are not new…
But many commentators have been underwhelmed by the administration’s early response, which struck some as highly defensive and a reaffirmation of the widely held view that the government is more interested in preserving its authority than in enforcing the rule of law…
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Labels: civil liberties, Mexico, politics, rule of law
A sign of greater civil liberties
Sometimes jokes can be a sign of improved civil liberties. That wasn't true in the Soviet Union, where the best jokes had to carefully told from one person to another trusted person. In Nigeria, stand up comedy is new and jokes seem to be a good sign. (Just don't make jokes about Buhari yet.)
Nigeria’s Comics Pull Punch Lines From Deeper Social Ills
 |
| "Ali Baba" |
The armed robbers were having a field day, [famed comedian] Ali Baba exclaimed to a large auditorium of lawyers. It was so bad that the thieves struck every car along a deeply potholed road — that is, until a former governor came along.
“They looked at him, and said he should drive on,” he said as the crowd grew silent. “The other armed robber said, ‘Why? Why did you let that car go?’ ”
“ ‘Esprit de corps’ ” — a camaraderie among brothers — he said, delivering the punch line and unleashing roars of laughter throughout the audience.
Forget crooked politicians, daily blackouts, long lines at gas stations or even the scourge of Boko Haram here in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. Despite the litany of social ills and troubles — or maybe because of them — Nigeria has never laughed harder.
Comedy here is booming. Top comics have become, in a few short years, among Nigeria’s most successful entertainers and now perform throughout Africa.
Stand-up comedy, which emerged with Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, has become the country’s third-biggest form of entertainment after movies and music, industry experts say…
So quickly has the art form caught on that stand-up comics have become fixtures at social events, like the lawyers association that hired Ali Baba for its dinner here recently. Securing a talented comic for a wedding, company event or political gathering has now become de rigueur in Nigeria’s higher social circles…
Working in such public spheres, the comedians are challenging deeply rooted social and political mores. Socially, Nigeria remains an extremely hierarchical country where powerful individuals are treated with fawning respect. For the second time since military rule ended in 1999, Nigeria finds itself governed by a former general, President Muhammadu Buhari, evidence of the military’s lingering influence…
“During military rule, you couldn’t go and start cracking jokes about the head of state,” said Barclays Ayakoroma, a cultural critic who has written about the rise of stand-up comedy in Nigeria, “That night, they would have come for you. So we can say that civilian rule opened the way for people to make jokes about our leaders without fear of being arrested.”…
Ali Baba, whose real name is Atunyota Alleluya Akporobomerere, is considered the pioneer of stand-up comedy in Nigeria. Now 50, he recalled how, with no Nigerian models to emulate, he researched the distinctly American art of stand-up comedy by combing through old copies of Reader’s Digest and reference materials like “10,000 Jokes, Toasts and Stories.”…
He also frequented a cultural center run by the American government, studying its videos of Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor…
When Olusegun Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military ruler between 1976 and 1979, he had shown little tolerance for criticism…
But under democracy, Mr. Obasanjo championed comedians like Mr. Akporobomerere, who roasted him regularly, and recommended him for performances.
Mr. Akporobomerere’s success helped popularize other comedians and bring stand-up comedy into the mainstream.
“Companies wanted to use our services, and young people wanted to take up comedy as a career,” said another popular comedian, Okey Bakassi, whose real name is Okechukwu Anthony Onyegbule. “That changed everything.”
Still, comics can never be too careful.
“There are certain people in government who do not have a sense of humor,” Mr. Akporobomerere said…
“Some [politicians] will come up to me and say, ‘Talk about me,’ ” Julius Agwu, another top comedian, said. “It’s like hype for them.”
Mr. Buhari may not be one of them…
“So far, he’s not known as a type that will host parties,” said the comedian known as Basketmouth. “He’s a pretty serious guy, which is what we need for now. We don’t need to party. We need to fix the country right now.”
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Labels: censorship, civil liberties, leadership, Nigeria, politics
