“Una coalición de músicos, entre ellos miembros de Pearl Jam o R.E.M, se querella contra el Gobierno de EE.UU. por utilizar sus canciones en los abusos a presos de Guantánamo.

¿Qué opina Bruce Springsteen de que los soldados del Ejército norteamericano usaran su tema Born in the USA como elemento de tortura en Guantánamo? ¿Y Don McLean de que su canción American Pie sonase más de 24 horas seguidas para coaccionar a los supuestos terroristas?

Una importante coalición de músicos, entre los que se encuentran miembros de Pearl Jam, R.E.M. y The Roots, han demandado al Gobierno de Estados Unidos por hacer público el nombre de sus canciones con respecto a estos malos tratos y a su vez por torturarlos con su música desde 2002, según informa el diario The Washington Post. Decenas de artistas se han unido y han lanzado una protesta legal apoyados por el Archivo Nacional de Seguridad, un instituto de investigación con sede en Washington.”

[seguir leyendo en El Pais]

Musicians ask Obama to ban music torture Mary Shaw 19/07/2009

“A few years ago, British attorney Clive Stafford Smith spoke at an Amnesty International conference that I attended. Smith represents some Guantanamo prisoners, and he shared their horrible stories with us.

One chilling example is the story of his client Binyam Mohem, a Londoner who has since been released from Guantanamo:

They hung me up. I was allowed a few hours of sleep on the second day, then hung up again, this time for two days. My legs had swollen. My wrists and hands had gone numb…. There was loud music, [Eminem’s] ‘Slim Shady’ and Dr. Dre for 20 days…. The CIA worked on people, including me, day and night…. Plenty lost their minds. I could hear people knocking their heads against the walls and the doors, screaming their heads off.”

[Philadelphia independent media center]

Rockers to Press Obama on Music Torture Nathan Hodge 23/12/2008
“Earlier this month, Reprieve and the U.K. Musicians Union launched Zero dB, a “silent protest” over the use of music in interrogations. According to Reprieve, many of its clients have been subjected to hours of music played at deafening volume — sometime for days or even weeks on end. And the BBC has reported on a particularly insidious practice: using the theme songs from Sesame Street and Barney to break the will of prisoners.” [Wired]