Pink Floyd's Roger Waters Calls Out U.S., Guantanamo Bay Practices in Op-Ed

The United States' treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has been under the microscope for years, and the recent revelation that the government refuses to release torture records in fear of backlash has accentuated the long list of misdeeds at the Cuban facility. Former Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters chimed in on the issue in an op-ed for The Daily Mail, specifically citing a 46-year-old prisoner, Shaker Aamer, who has been held for almost 13 years without trial.

"He has been subjected to systematic torture, humiliation and degradation, deprived not just of his liberty, but of all rights normally afforded to those in custody yet to be proven guilty of any crime," Waters wrote.

The rock legend called out Britain's government and insinuated that the UK potentially had a role in Aamer's treatment. The Saudi Arabian man -- who Waters believes was in Afghanistan during 9/11, working at a charity -- now reportedly has several health problems including failing eyesight, kidney damage and depression. Aamer has also never met his 12-year-old son.

"Even cold-blooded murderers rarely serve as lengthy a sentence as Mr Aamer has had to endure, and, if they do, they will at least have been convicted in a court by a jury of their peers," Waters wrote.

In a musical twist, the two became involved with each other when Aamer sent defense attorney Clive Stafford Smith a letter that included lyrics from Pink Floyd's "Hey You."

'Hey you! Out there in the cold

Getting lonely, getting old. Can you feel me

Hey you! Standing in the aisles

With itchy feet and fading smiles. Can you feel me

Hey you! Don't help them to bury the light

Don't give in without a fight.'

Waters wrote that the British government has called for Aamer's release from American custody several times, and he believes the recent investigation on CIA torture will hasten change.

"Detention and incarceration without trial have absolutely no place in the legal system which we, the British people, are all rightfully proud to call our own," Waters wrote.

Tags

Roger Waters, Pink Floyd