2of2 Chinese Human Rights Violations Bodies SHow/Exhibit

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Warning: The body parts you are about to see may have come from Chinese prisoners who were tortured and executed.

This message, in essence, is a core element of a settlement reached between the New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, and the promoters of "Bodies: The Exhibition," a traveling display of cadavers and other human specimens that has attracted crowds of spectators fascinated by the anatomical detail of precisely sliced body parts.

The exhibition has been the object of persistent criticism from medical ethicists and human rights advocates, who have questioned whether the remains were legally obtained. Premier Exhibitions, which organized the exhibition and paid $25 million to obtain the specimens from a Chinese company, has insisted that the human remains — all but two of them male — are those of the poor, the unclaimed or the unidentified.

As questions about the origins of the specimens have persisted, the state has gotten involved. This morning, Mr. Cuomo announced a settlement with Premier Exhibitions that he said "brings an end to Premier's practice of using bodies of undocumented origins in their exhibitions." Mr. Cuomo said that the company had "profited from displaying the remains of individuals who may have been tortured and executed in China." (Several body factories producing mummified remains for public display have sprung up in China in recent years; see related article and video.)

Under the settlement, Premier will be required to "obtain 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." And all previous visitors to the New York City version of the exhibition — in the South Street Seaport Exhibition Center, at 11 Fulton Street — will be eligible for a refund of the price of their ticket. It is not clear how many customers will seek refunds, but the company has deposited $50,000 into an escrow account for the refunds. (Tickets for the New York show range from $21.50 to $79.)

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• ewtn
• catholic
• china
• chinese
• olympics
• human
• rights
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• communism
• communist