The Zero Decibel Project

Bands Rage Against U.S Military's Music Torture

Dec 16, 2008

A new initiative to end the practice of music as a means of torture has been welcomed by musicians and human rights action groups.

U.K legal charity, Reprieve, has joined forces with many high-profile musicians to launch its’ Zero Decibel campaign (zero dB), coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948.

The campaign is aimed at increasing awareness of the practice of music being used as a means of torture towards detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and musicians involved will be holding minutes of silence during concerts and at various festivals to show their support.

Meanwhile, a petition is urging government to uphold its UN obligations under the international treaty, United Nations Convention Against Torture, stating the practice is in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted by the UN General Assembly, where Article 5 states, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Music as Torture

Music as a means of torture became commonplace in 1989, during the effort by US troops to force Panama president, Manuel Norriega to surrender. The brutal practice was also a regular part of interrogation tactics authorized by then commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez in a September 14, 2003 memorandum.

Since then, music torture has become the norm in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay in particular, where it is blasted at high volume over PA systems to create fear, disorient detainees, prolong capture shock, induce sleep deprivation – and to drown out screams.

The audio assaults are conducted over a period of weeks, sometimes months for up to 20 hours a day, while the detainees are held in stress positions at extreme temperatures and alternating cell environments of pitch-black and strobe lighting

Musicians tell U.S. military "Stop using our songs as weapons."

Musicians offering their full support to the project include Rage Against the Machine, Massive Attack, David Gray, The Magic Numbers, Elbow, James Lavelle, Bill Bailey, and an additional 30,000 musicians worldwide represented by The Musicians Union.

Stevie Benton, from Drowning Pool who has been a vocal supporter of U.S. troops in Iraq, said it was "an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that."

Similarly, Metallica are also not opposed to the practice. On being informed their track, Enter Sandman was among the most widely played song for torture, the band stated, "our music is meant to be scary, and if we can help with the war on terrorism in any way we are extremely proud."

US military top 20 Torture Songs

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