Musicians Complain About Their Songs Being Used for Torture

 Prominent rock bands have joined forces with a legal charity to campaign against the use of music as an instrument of torture by US military interrogators.  According to British organization Reprieve, the US military has been playing  rock music at deafening volumes to detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay to "break" prisoners.  This practise continues, despite a ban by the UN and European Court of Human Rights.

"What we're talking about here is people in a darkened room, physically inhibited by handcuffs, bags over their heads and music blaring at them." singer-songwriter David Gray has said of the practice.  "That is torture.  That is nothing but torture.  It doesn't matter what the music is -   it could be Tchaikovsky's finest or it could be Barney the Dinosaur. It really doesn't matter, it's going to drive you completely nuts." 

For many detainees who grew up in Afghanistan - where music was prohibited - this marked their first exposure to the pounding rhythms, played at top volumes.

Supporters of the campaign, which urges backers to help bring an end to the "brutal practice of music torture" include Massive Attack, Rage Against the Machine, Elbow, The Magic Numbers, James Lavelle of UNKLE, and comedian Bill Bailey and The Musicians' Union, which represents more than 30,000 musicians.

Bands and artists whose music has been frequently played at US detention sites include AC/DC, Metallica, Eminem, Springsteen, David Gray, Aerosmith, Limp Bizkit, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tupac Shakur, Aerosmith, Meatloaf, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Don McLean, Lil' Kim, Rage Against the Machine, Dr. Dre, and children's Barney and Sesame Street theme song.