politics

R.E.M.: Torture?

A coalition of famous musicians — R.E.M., Trent Reznor, and the Roots among them — are campaigning to have the U.S. detainment camp at Guantánamo Bay shuttered. Also, reports the AP, they’ve filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking answers on whether their songs were blasted by guards at deafening volume to torture inmates (documents already made public have revealed that tracks by AC/DC, Britney Spears, and Marilyn Manson were). A spokeswoman for Joint Task Force Guantánamo says music hasn’t been used to coerce detainees since 2003, so at least we can be sure no one under U.S. detention was subjected to 2004’s Around the Sun. [AP]

R.E.M.: Torture?