The Bodies Exhibit

On the final exam review sheet, there is a line which reads "Civil Rights Violations" under the East Asia/China heading.

In class we talked about the limited right to vote in China, as well as the curbs on freedom of expression, speech, religion, etc. We also talked about the way in which China uses the death penalty more than any other nation and that many killings in China are "extrajudicial," meaning they take place outside of the justice system. I mentioned the Bodies exhibit, and how the company which created this exhibit cannot guarantee that the bodies in the exhibit belong to people who willingly gave up their bodies for the purposes of the exhibit.

According to the New York Times, visitors to the Bodies exhibit will now see a warning which reads "Warning: The body parts you are about to see may have come from Chinese prisoners who were tortured and executed."

The State of New York asked Premier Exhibitions, the company which creates the Bodies exhibits, to produce "documentation demonstrating the cause of death and origins of the cadavers and body parts it displays as well as proof that the decedent consented to the use of his or her remains in such a manner." Premier Exhibitions could not produce the documentation. The State of New York could not provide any evidence which clearly showed that the bodies were tortured, so the two parties agreed to a compromise. The Bodies Exhibit could stay in New York, but they would have to post the warning.