Massive Attack ad Rage Against The Machine are just two acts that want the military to stop using music as torture.
Teaming up with British legal charity Reprieve, they want US military interrogators to stop using music by artists such as AC/DC, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen and even Britney Spears.According to Reprieve, they blast the music "relentlessly" at a deafening volume to detainees being held in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
The charity said this is done in an attempt to "break" prisoners, and despite a ban on the use of loud music in interrogations by the United Nations and European Court of Human Rights, this instrument of torture is still used.
Reprieve, which represents 33 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and high-profile musicians to launch its Zero decibels project, Zero dB, on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The campaign urges supporters to help bring to an end the "brutal practice of music torture". It will feature minutes of silence during concerts and festivals while a petition will call on governments and the UN to uphold their obligations.
Another supporter of the campaign, singer songwriter David Gray said: "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.
"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."
Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, suggested taking revenge on President George W Bush by putting him in a cell and blasting his own band's music at him.
Other supporters of the campaign include Mercury Prize winners Elbow, The Magic Numbers, James Lavelle of UNKLE, comedian Bill Bailey and The Musicians' Union, which represents more than 30,000 musicians.
Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith said: "The Bush Administration likes to paint this as harmless, like a prisoner being given an iPod."
Music-News.com
