访谈录 2008-12-20&12-22 音乐酷刑

"It is torture. I have no doubt about it in my mind. It is torture."

Donald Vance was a detainee in the US military's Camp Cropper in Iraq, held for months after he reported evidence of corruption¹. Vance says he was forced to listen to earsplitting music for months on end and it nearly drove him to suicide. Detainees, some US officials and human rights groups say U.S. forces have systematically² used loud music against hundreds of detainees in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq.

"You can hear them screaming. You can hear them crying out loud. They are usually calling out for their mothers or calling out for God to help them. And, yeah, you can, you could hear someone going insane."

Like they’d keep’em up all night long by blasting out music, we're trying our best to stop it.

In a campaign being launched on International Human Rights Day, Reprieve³, a legal group representing some Guantanamo detainees, along with musicians are protesting the use of music during interrogations. Not all of the music in question is hard rock either.

~~Put down the duckie

Put down the duckie

Put down the duckie

Yeah, you gotta leave the duck alone...~~~

Christopher Cerf, a songwriter for Sesame Street was horrified⁴ to learn that songs he penned for children's TV shows were used in interrogation.

"Humorously I made the point that I was willing to sacrifice those, those royalties⁵ for my country. But this is not the way I want my songs used."

Reprieve zero DB for Zero Decibel⁶ campaign calls for the enforcement of UN Convention Against Torture and encourages musicians to hold a minute of silence at concerts. One interrogator⁷ at Guantanamo bragged⁸ that he needed only four days to “break” someone using music and lights. Ruhal Ahmed, a British citizen who was captured in Afghanistan told Reprieve it was much worse when the music started.

It makes you feel like you are going mad. After a while, you don’t hear the lyrics⁹. All you hear is heavy, heavy banging.

A Guantanamo Bay spokeswoman wouldn't give details of when and how music has been used at the prison, and would also not respond when asked whether music might be used again in the future.

Tracy Brown, the Associated Press.

整理笔记：

earsplitting: loud and shrill¹⁰ enough to hurt the ears.

for months/days/weeks on end: if something happens or continues for days, months etc. on end, it continues for several days, months, or weeks without stopping.

royalty¹¹: a share paid to a writer or composer out of the proceeds resulting from the sale or performance of his or her work.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

3 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

4 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

5 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分

6 decibel   

n.分贝(音量的单位)

参考例句：

• The noise pollution reached a high decibel level.噪音污染达到了很高分贝。
• In sound we use the decibel scale.在声学中我们采用分贝标度。

7 interrogator   

n.讯问者；审问者；质问者；询问器

参考例句：

• No,I was not mad, but my interrogator was furious. 不，我没疯，只是质问我的人怒不可遏。 来自互联网
• Miss Fan lacked such an interrogator with whom she could whisper intimately. 范小姐就缺少这样一个切切私语的盘问者。 来自互联网

8 bragged   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。
• Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 玛丽夸口说她比杰克跑得快。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

10 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

11 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。