Finally, undoubtedly the most disturbing and controversial use of music as a weapon has been in its employment as an instrument of torture. This has most famously occurred in Guantanamo Bay, Camp Cropper (Iraq) and Abu Ghraib prison (Iraq), all of which are noted for using certain musical genres and artists to force prisoners of war to provide them with information. This, of course, is in addition to more famous forms of torture such as sleep deprivation and water-boarding, selecting because they are perceived (wrongly) to be "humane" methods of torture. The Tipton Three, three British citizens held by the US government for two years in Guantanamo, were subject some of the most carefully documented examples of sonic torture. Tied up, they were forced to sit in solitary confinement in a tiny room while music was blasted at sickeningly high volumes directly into their faces. This took place over many hours, and became a daily routine. The rooms were pitch black, save for lights being shone straight into their eyes. They couldn't leave to go to the bathroom, and the shackles were so tight that they bit into their limbs. Music selected varied in order to aggravate the Tipton Three further. Skinny Puppy, Eminem, Queen, Christina Aguilera, Dr Dre, The Bee Gees, Meat Loaf, David Gray, Dope, Marilyn Manson, a wealth of metal songs, and various annoying theme tunes were all cranked up and fired at the prisoners. Even F*ck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me, Rage Against The Machine's anti-establishment rant, was used. It was so effective that the prisoners confessed to crimes that they weren't even involved with, just to make it stop. They were eventually acquitted of all charges when it was realised that their confessions were, effectively, forced - and false. It is worth ending on a more positive note. Many of the musicians whose material has been used in torture and warfare have stood in opposition to its use. They deserve to be celebrated for their refusal to allow those in power to use their sounds, so here is a fairly comprehensive list of the musicians that have signed petitions calling for the banning of music as an instrument of torture: Christopher Cerf (composer for Sesame Street), Tom Morello (RATM/Audioslave), Massive Attack, R.E.M., The Roots, Rise Against, Rosanne Cash, Pearl Jam, Bonnie Raitt, Trent Reznor, Billy Bragg, Michelle Branch, Jackson Browne, T-Bone Burnett, David Byrne, Marc Cohn, Steve Earle, The Entrance Band, Skinny Puppy and Joe Henry.
