Detroit’s punk legend Iggy Pop has shocked international leaders and music-lovers alike over the headline of a new Amnesty International-sponsored anti-torture ad bearing his bruised and beaten face.
The French ad, which depicts a defeated Pop confessing his admiration for pop star Justin Bieber, reads: “The future of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s Justin Bieber.”
Pop, and others opposed to torture as a method of gaining information (including the Dalai Lama and German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld), have their images and specific messages joined by the phrase: “torture a man and he will tell you anything.” Amnesty International representatives are using this advertisement to argue that the practice of torture is flawed, as inaccurate information is often the result of physical pressure techniques.
“Governments of torture and ill-treatment claim they obtain valuable information,” Philippe Hensmans, director of the Belgian arm of Amnesty International, told Euro News. “But history has shown that tortured people are often willing to say anything for the pain to stop – the whole truth, only a part or its opposite.”