NEARLY 20 years ago, the US armed forces in Panama used the music of Guns N’ Roses and Elvis Presley, played at maximum volume over loudspeakers, to try and drive the country’s leader, Manuel Noriega, to surrender.
A tactic was born. Since then, music played at unbearable volumes has been frequently deployed in Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere by the CIA, as part of a sophisticated portfolio of torture against detainees.
Now a collective of bands and artists, including some whose recordings have been used against their wishes, has demanded that the US stops using its work as an instrument of war.
Bruce Springsteen has already voiced anger at the use of Born in the USA. Now, on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he has been joined by artists including Massive Attack, Elbow, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, Unkle’s James Lavelle, Matthew Herbert, the Magic Numbers and Bill Bailey.
“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,” said musician David Gray. “That is nothing but torture. It doesn’t matter what the music is.”
Among the songs most used are: Metallica’s Enter Sandman, Eminem’s White America, AC/DC’s Hells Bells and the Sesame Street theme song. One of the reasons for using loud music in this way is that it leaves no marks on the body. – (Guardian service)
Reuters adds: Two dozen people who lost loved ones in the September 11th attacks issued a statement yesterday denouncing the Guantánamo war crimes trials as illegitimate, shameful and politically motivated.
“These prosecutions have been politically motivated from the start, are designed to ensure quick convictions at the expense of due process and transparency, and are structured to prevent the revelation of abusive interrogations and torture engaged in by the US government,” said the 24 relatives who signed yesterday’s statement, distributed through the American Civil Liberties Union.