“We are witnessing a new type of torture – one that doesn’t have visible trace or touch yet yield extreme stress.”

That was from my Arts Studies lecture. We were discussing the use of loud music as torture in Guantanamo Bay.

Guantanamo Bay is a U.S. detention centre located in Cuba which in 2008 has housed a lifetime high of 779 detainees that the U.S. refers to as “unlawful enemy combatants” (CBC).

Ethics became a hot discussion topic. The general consensus of those who spoke in the classroom that day was that it is very unethical to torture detainees of Guantanamo Bay regardless of method or crime.

The Guardian has an interesting article that showcases a multitude of perspectives on this sort of musical torture. The Guardian Editor Smith shows off opinions of artists which have their music being used by the military to torture detainees (including Bob Singleton, the artist of Barney’s I Love You) as well as statements of the U.S. military itself.

Surprisingly, the opinion of Bob Singleton leaned closer towards being un-empathetic than anything else. In fact, many of the other bands such as AC/DC and Metallica that were interviewed showed little or no empathy towards the detainees suffering from musical torture, or what the U.S military coined “torture lite” (Smith).

As previously stated, our classroom mentality generally consisted of empathy towards those who were detained. We also had the intention of not alienating these detainees for what they did, and we attempted to view them as human beings rather than war criminals (which more often than not can be viewed as alienated objects). These unsympathetic perspectives from the artists as well as terms such as “torture lite” from the military (Smith) make it clear as day that our classroom perspective is limited.

We could further our discussion using these new perspectives by looking at how we can understand and perhaps address these contrasting viewpoints. An example of this is to initiate awareness campaigns of Guantanamo Bay detainees in order to “humanize” these prisoners of war. It is possible that the more the public know about these detainees (that are not always considered human) the more understanding the public will become to their situation.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “Guantanamo Bay History.” CBCNews. 22 Jan 2009. Web. 10 FEB 2015

Smith, Clive. “Welcome to ‘the disco’.” The Guardian. 19 JUNE 2008.Web. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/19/usa.guantanamo>.