Music torture is a form of torture used by playing specifically chosen music incessantly to prisoners, or those being interrogated.
Instances of use
Edit
- It is currently being used by the United States 361st Psychological Operations Company, a unit dedicated to discovering new ways in which to interrogate effectively.[1]
- A BBC News report claimed that music by band Metallica, and from children's TV programs Barney and Sesame Street, was being used to cause sleep deprivation and culturally offend the prisoners.[2][3][1]
- According to Sergeant Mark Hadsell:
"These people haven't heard heavy metal. They can't take it. If you play it for 24 hours, your brain and body functions start to slide, your train of thought slows down and your will is broken. That's when we come in and talk to them."[1]
Other instancesEdit
- Bombardment with loud music has been known to have been used in other occasions
| Manuel Noriega |
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| Guantanamo |
The Washington Post, quoting a leaked Red Cross report, wrote:[8]
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| Iraq |
According to Amnesty International[9]:
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| Israel |
On January 12 1998 the Supreme Court of Israel declined to ban the use of loud music as an interrogation technique.[10] |
The use of music as a weapon in fiction and popular cultureEdit
In the movie A Clockwork Orange a rebellious outsider is subjected to brutal experimental brain-washing techniques -- including bombardment with very loud music.
In Back to the Future, Marty used music made by Van Halen to scare his dad, George McFly, awake, implying that since that kind of music didn't exist in that time, it would scare him.
Public awareness of the use of this technique is widespread enough that it can be used in satirical attacks on popular culture:
"Hollywood — Several days after Paris Hilton announced that she will release a music album, the Pentagon has decided to buy 50,000 copies of her upcoming album to use against insurgents in the volatile Anbar province in western Iraq."[11]
Royalty paymentsEdit
The Guardian reported that the US military may owe royalty payments to the artists whose works were played to the captives.[12][13]
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "BBC article Sesame Street breaks Iraqi POWs", BBC (May 23 2003). Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ A.L. Bardach, Jac Chebatoris (May 19, 2003). "Periscope", Newsweek. Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ "The Love's not mutual", Newsweek (May 26, 2003). Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ "Ret. Lt. Gen. Marc Cisneros to Discuss Capture of Former Panamanian Dictator with A&M-Corpus Christi Students", Texas A&M University (September 19 2007). Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ Ronald H. Cole (Winter 1998-99). "Grenada, Panama, and Haiti: Joint Operational Reform", United States Department of Defense. Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ "Guantanamo Bay Inquiry (released under FOIA)", Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ Dan Eggen, R. Jeffrey Smith (Tuesday, December 21, 2004). "FBI Agents Allege Abuse of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay", Washington Post, pp. Page A01. Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ Josh White, John Mintz (Wednesday, December 1, 2004). "Red Cross Cites 'Inhumane' Treatment at Guantanamo", Washington Post, pp. Page A10. Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ "Iraq: Torture not isolated -- independent investigations vital", Amnesty International (30 April 2004). Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ Gwen Ackerman (January 12, 1998). "Israel refuses to ban loud music torture", Birminghan Post. Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ "U.S. MILITARY TO ATTACK INSURGENTS WITH PARIS HILTON ALBUM", Dateline Hollywood. Retrieved on 27 November 2007.
- ↑ "Gitmo's Greatest Hits", Light Reading (2008-07-21). Retrieved on 21 July 2008. mirror
- ↑ Sean Michaels (2008-07-09). "Music as torture may incur royalty fees", The Guardian. Retrieved on 21 July 2008. mirror
Further reading Edit
- Cusick, Suzanne. 'You are in a place that is out of the world . . .': Music in the Detention Camps of the 'Global War on Terror'. Journal of the Society for American Music 2/1 (2008): 1-26.
- Cusick, Suzanne. 'Music as torture / Music as weapon.' Revista Transcultural de Música/Transcultural Music Review 10 (2006). Available at http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans10/cusick_eng.htm.
