DANCERS GETS PROBABTION FOR "OBSCENE DANCING"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 002061

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL/AE AND INR/AA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/18/2017
TAGS: KDEM KISL PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SOCI SG
SUBJECT: DANCERS GETS PROBABTION FOR "OBSCENE DANCING"


Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE D,AFFAIRES JAY SMITH FOR REASONS 1.

4 (B) AND (D)

SUMMARY
--------------

1. (C) A recent obscenity case against a well-known dancer,
Ndeye Gueye, has pitted social conservatives, imams, and
Islamists against secularist and lawyers who say that this
kind of jurisprudence poses a danger to Senegal's traditions
of social and religious tolerance. Gueye was charged, tried
and released under probation for offending "good morals"
after a video of her "dancing obscenely" in a nightclub was
pirated and released on the Internet. While she and her
colleagues were released, the organizer of the evening and a
barman, both Spanish expatriates, were sentenced to one month
in prison. According to opposition leaders and others, the
case represents an effort by President Wade to court support
from conservative leaders and to distract attention from the
country's economic woes and charges of official corruption.
END SUMMARY.

Background
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2. (SBU) During a private party in a nightclub in 2005 a
group of well-known local dancers called "Les Gazelles," led
by Ndeye Gueye, took to the stage to individually dance to
the music of traditional African drums. Unbeknownst to the
girls, the event was recorded and in mid-2007 a DVD, called
"Goudi Town, Yeumbeul Down" was being sold in the streets of
Dakar and available on the Internet. While grainy it is
clear from the footage that the girls' "dancing" involved the
sexual contortions that one might expect in an R-rated Hip
Hop music video. After the video's release three dancers,
the evening's organizer and a barman were all charged with:
"offending good morals, indecent behavior and complicity to
engage in said activities." The prosecutor asked for prison
time. The defense argued that this "leumbeul" style of
dancing is the norm not the exception in Senegal, that the
girls were unaware they were being filmed and thus had no
intention of commercially exploiting the proceeds from the
DVD and that they are being used as scapegoats by social
conservatives who think that Senegal has become too
Westernized.

The rise of Islamic Conservatism?
--------------

3. (C) The case has become vehicle for conservative forces to
promote their agenda, according to Amath Dansokho, the
chairman of the Party for Independence and Labor(PIT). Many
credit Dansokho's public intervention as the main reason why
the dancers escaped jail time. Dansokho has long been
arguing, sometimes dramatically, that there are shadowy
groups who are waiting for the right opportunities to assail
what they see as the rending of Senegal's moral fabric.


4. (SBU) One of the parties that associated itself with the
prosecutor's case is such a group and calls itself the
Association of Koranic Teachers. Up until now, this
relatively obscure group has focused on trying to maintain
Talibe (Koranic student) culture, including begging, and
denounced Tostan (an international NGO that is fighting
against begging by talibes),saying that it is undermining
traditional Koranic teaching methods. The Association of
Koranic Teachers, conservative imams, and former government
minister cum lawyer Massokhane Kane all became parties to the
case, collectively arguing that Senegal needs a new moral
order and that society has become corrupt and far too
permissive.


5. (C) Kane told PolOffs that this issue is less about the
girls than about having a debate over the progressive erosion
of Senegal's values and an increasing lack of respect for
religious principles. He blamed the importation to Senegal
of foreign attitudes and ideologies that have led to
lifestyles that run counter to the country's traditional
moral credo. In the end, the judge in the case decided that
the aforementioned civil parties had no case and dismissed
their petitions.

The Imams Speak up
--------------

6. (SBU) In his Saturday October 12 sermon to celebrate the
end of Ramadan, the influential Imam Ratib of Dakar's Grand
Mosque, El Hadji Pape Moussa Samb, said that a censorship
commission needed to be set up in order filter the content of
local television stations: "the images that we see on
television today do not conform to our traditions or our
values." This comment, made to a flock that included the
Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior, was a
none-too-subtle reference to the numerous stills that local
TV channels have been broadcasting of the Ndyeye Gueye video.

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He continued by saying that Senegal cannot be allowed to be
negatively influenced by the West and that its own set of
values have served the country well. The Imam also believes
that justice in this case was too lenient, a viewpoint that
he shares with the outspoken and influential Imam of Thies,
Tamsir Ndiour, who made similar comments in his Saturday
sermon.

The Government Acquiesced to the Prosecution
--------------

7. (C) For this case to have gotten this far it had to be
approved by Justice Minister Sy, who oversees all of the
country's prosecutors. Senegal is known as a tolerant
country and this is the first time in recent memory that
people are being prosecuted for doing something that is an
essential part of Senegalese culture - dancing. Senegalese
dancing is well respected throughout the world said Gadiaga
Diop Done, cultural affairs reporter for the "Nouvelle
Horizon" weekly. She went on to say that this kind of
dancing has always existed in Senegal and that nobody has
ever been offended nor has it ever come to the attention of
prosecutors. She opined that this case represses Senegalese
culture and sets a very dangerous precedent.


8. (C) Abdou Latif Gueye, Deputy Speaker at the National
Assembly and staunch Wade supporter, told us that this case
was a good thing as it sparked a national debate on issues of
moral comportment and respect for values. He added that the
girls should now be left alone as they have suffered enough
as sacrificial lambs. He then averred that far worse things
were going on in Dakar and suggested that some of the people
who actually condemned Ndeye Gueye were themselves guilty of
hypocrisy.


9. (C) If he had wanted to, Minister Sy and, by extension
President Wade, could have easily stopped the case from going
forward. However, PIT chairman Dansokho believes that this
is a cheap bone thrown by Wade to the Islamists. In this
way, he strengthens his support from the country's more
conservative elements without having to spend any political
capital. An added bonus is that the papers, blogs, and
magazines have been riveted by this story for months thus
diverting the people's attention away from the current
economic crisis. According to Serigne Mbaye Thiam, a leader
of the opposition Socialist Party (PS),the government
actively encouraged journalists to cover the Ndeye Gueye
story instead of the controversial Sudatel mobile phone
contract that many allege was opaquely and corruptly awarded.


Comment
--------------

10. (C) While most commentators dismiss the claim that this
case was an effort on the part of the government to "clean
up" Dakar ahead of the OIC summit in March 2008, as the OIC
Summit approaches, the GOS will likely do whatever it can to
positively showcase the country - especially given that the
main sponsors of Dakar's facelift are conservative Islamic
countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.


11. (C) Nevertheless, even as there is no doubt this case
has been blown out of proportion, it does open a series of
questions about the underlying motive of those parties
involved and the direction Senegal might be heading in.
While many of the civil parties who joined the case did so to
promote their own conservative agendas, there are clearly
leaders in the country, especially in the religious
community, that believe Senegal is losing its way as it
becomes more modern, more accessible, and more Western. For
now the more radical elements that Dansokho refers to as
"Dark Forces" are small and not very influential. Yet,
Senegal's economic problems could easily pave the way for
these groups to gain influence in the political and legal
arenas.


12. (U) Visit Embassy Dakar's SIPRNET website at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/af/dakar.
SMITH