Rockers Protest Musical Assaults on Terrorism Detainees
A group of rock musicians is launching a campaign that protests using high-volume music to wear down terrorism detainees.
The organizer of the campaign is Chloe Davies of the British group Reprieve, the Associated Press reports. Other participating musicians include the group Massive Attack and guitarist Tom Morello, formerly of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. The protest will feature moments of silence during rock concerts and festivals.
Military contractor Donald Vance of Chicago claims in a lawsuit that he was nearly driven to suicide when his U.S. military jailers in Iraq blasted rock music for months, the AP story says. Vance was told he was being jailed because his employer was suspected of selling weapons to terrorists, but he claims he was being held for reporting illegal arms sales.
“There was a lot of Nine Inch Nails, including ‘March of the Pigs,’ ” he told AP. “I couldn’t tell you how many times I heard Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You.’ “
The United States has also used loud music at Guantanamo Bay and in Afghanistan, although Guantanamo’s commander says it is no longer being used there.
