The UK's Musicians' Union (MU) has publicly spoken out against the use of music in torture and is looking to gain international agreement on the issue. The MU will ask the Federation of International Musicians (FIM) Executive Committee to agree to a joint condemnation of the practice as soon as possible.
As MusicRadar previously reported, the US army has been using so-called 'torture lite' techniques involving the incessant playing of high volume music to prisoners or those being interrogated. Music is used to break a prisoner's resistance through sleep deprivation and lyrics that prisoners would find culturally offensive.
"The Musicians' Union deplores any use of music as an instrument of torture, and calls on all Governments to outlaw the practice," says John Smith of the MU. "As well as being inhumane, it is also a potential infringement of a musician's rights."
Yup, music used as torture is bad. (So why are Westlife still allowed to gig, huh? Sorry...)
Click for a grim discussion of torture and music. For a more uplifting click for your Friday, go to MusicRadar's Best Of YouTube...
