Pop Music Used to Torture Detainees
(ed. note: This is part of an ongoing series of posts about issues in politics, entertainment, media, business, technology, etc. that do not necessarily have anything to do with the Qwidget. The posts are meant to showcase how the Qwidget can be used with any type of blog content.)
The use of extremely loud music to aid in military interrogations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay is well known at this point. It’s also hardly a new practice. Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega allegedly surrendered to US troops because of the loud music they beamed into his hiding spot, the Vatican Embassy. However, a number of musicians have recently announced a campaign with the British human rights organization Reprieve to end this practice, which they say is torture.
So far, they have have established an online petition and announced that participating musicians will hold a few moments of silence at concerts and festivals. One can imagine, however, that this initiative will quickly expand. Expect more traditional forms of protest in the near future as well as perhaps a legal challenge demanding royalties. Here’s the petition if you’re interested.
This issue is obviously going to split audiences at these concerts and could lead to some intense confrontations. It’s already splitting musicians, some of whom gladly approve of the use of their songs in such situations. Stevie Benton, whose band Drowning Pool, recorded one of the interrogators’ favorites, “Bodies” had this to say about the controversy: “People assume we should be offended that somebody in the military thinks our song is annoying enough that played over and over it can psychologically break someone down. I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that.”
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