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"The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me," Morello said. (Google) |
CAIRO – Dozens of American musicians and song writers are campaigning for declassifying records on songs and music used to torture detainees at the notorious Guantanamo detention center.
“When we found out that music was being used as part of the torture going on at Guantanamo, shackling and beating people — we were angry,” The Roots, a hip hop band, said in a statement cited by the Washington Post on Thursday, October 22.
“Just as we wouldn’t be caught dead allowing Dick Cheney to use our music for his campaigns, you can be damn sure we wouldn’t allow him to use it to torture other human beings.”
Dozens of musicians and song writers have backed a request by the National Security Archive, an independent research institute, to declassify records on music used to torture Guantanamo detainees.
American jailors used to blast heavy metal, rap and country music at detainees for long periods to force them into giving information.
"The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me," Grammy Award-winning guitarist Tom Morello said.
Jayne Huckerby, research director at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the NYU School of Law, said the use of loud music was “pretty much a widespread tool of the US government and a standard condition of CIA prisons."
Washington has been holding hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo for years, branding them unlawful enemy combatants to deny them legal rights under the American legal system.
Detainees and human rights advocates have reported torture and abuse in the detention center, including physical abuse, waterboarding and sleep deprivation.
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| Huckerby said the use of music on detainees is "pretty much a widespread tool of the US government and a standard condition of CIA prisons." (Google) |
Degrading
Suzanne G. Cusick, a music professor at New York University, said using music against detainees is very harmful.
"Sound at a certain level creates sensory overload and breaks down subjectivity and can [bring about] a regression to infantile behaviour," she explains.
"Its effectiveness depends on the constancy of the sound, not the qualities of the music."
The use of music in torture is banned under the UN Convention Against Torture.
Singer Rosanne Cash said she felt disgusted over the use of music by American jailors to torture detainees.
"It's beyond the pale. It's hard to even think about.
“Music should never be used as torture."
Cash urged all musicians and song writers to join the campaign.
"I think every musician should be involved."
The musicians’ move is part of concerted efforts to mount pressures on President Barack Obama to fulfil his promise of closing Guantanamo by the end of the year.
"We need to end torture and close Guantanamo now," said Morello, the Grammy Award-winning guitarist.
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