Campaign launched to stop Rock music from being used in torture

A human rights organization called Reprieve is launching a campaign called "Stop The Music Torture," aimed at ending the American practice of blasting music at loud levels while "interrogating" prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. According to U.K. publication The Guardian, music from heavy rock acts such as AC/DC, Rage Against The Machine, Metallica and Nine Inch Nails has been used, as well as less aggressive and somewhat more surprising selections from Britney Spears, David Gray, Eminem, Aerosmith, and even children's shows like Barney and Friends and Sesame Street.

Barney theme song writer Bob Singleton wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "It is absolutely ludicrous a song that was designed to make little children feel safe and loved was somehow going to threaten the mental state of adults and drive them to the emotional breaking point."

Reprieve filmed an interview with former Guantanamo Bay detainee Ruhal Ahmed, who said he was "psychologically tortured" with music several times. He explained, "It makes you feel like you're going mad, it's very scary. After a while you don't hear the lyrics, you only hear heavy banging."

Reprieve has listed these songs among the ones used most frequently by U.S. military interrogators:
Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
Drowning Pool - "Bodies"
AC/DC - "Shoot to Thrill" and "Hell's Bells"
Barney and Friends - "I Love You"
Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the USA"
Sesame Street - "Theme Song"
Nine Inch Nails - "March of the Pigs" and "Mr. Self-Destruct"
Queen - "We are The Champions"
Rage Against The Machine - "Killing in the Name Of"

Drowning Pool bassist Stevie Benton was not disturbed by the use of his band's music, telling Spin magazine, "I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that."

Metallica frontman James Hetfield was more ambivalent, telling a German TV network, "Part of me is proud is because they chose Metallica ... And then part of me is kind of bummed about it that people worry about us being attached to some political statement because of that."