Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and the Roots are among a coalition of musical headliners pressing the government to find out if their music was used to coerce or punish prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, according to published news reports.
"The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me," said Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello in a statement, according to The Washington Post. "We need to end torture and close Guantanamo now."
The artists have endorsed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests, filed Thursday morning, asking the U.S. government to disclose which songs were used on detainees at military detention centers.
The National Security Archive filed the request on behalf of the multimillion-dollar national grassroots campaign, Close Gitmo Now.
"We have spent the past 30 years supporting causes related to peace and justice. To now learn that some of our friends' music may have been used as part of the torture tactics without their consent or knowledge is horrific," the American rock band R.E.M. said in a statement posted on Close Gitmo Now's website. "It's anti-American, period."
Click here for a list of bands and songs allegedly used on U.S. military suspects.