Musos demand Guantanamo Bay playlist

Were Bee Gees used to torture suspects?

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 23rd October 2009 11:18 GMT

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A coalition of musicians is demanding the US government cough a list of tracks allegedly used to torture inmates of Guantanamo Bay, as former prisoners claim they were subjected to the Bee Gees, Britney Spears and Sesame Street at "ear-splitting level".

According to the Telegraph, the National Security Archive in Washington has sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to agencies including CIA, FBI and Department of Defence on behalf of artists such as Billy Bragg, Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine and REM.

The Archive's executive director, Thomas Blanton, insisted: "At Guantanamo, the US government turned a jukebox into an instrument of torture."

Jayne Huckerby, research director at New York University's Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice, claimed the CIA turned the dial up to ten to "humiliate, terrify, punish, disorient and deprive detainees of sleep, in violation of international law".

Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello raged: "The fact that music I helped create was used as a tactic against humanity sickens me. We need to end torture and close Guantanamo now."

CIA spokesman George Little insisted the music was employed for "security" and "not for punitive purposes". He assured the volume level was "far below a live band". ®

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