Group wants bodies exhibit investigated
Protest staged outside plastination exhibit in Niagara Falls; claims made that displays are executed Chinese prisoners
About 300 members of a human rights group protested outside the Bodies Revealed exhibit in Niagara Falls on Friday calling on the government to investigate claims the bodies on display are executed Chinese prisoners.
“Reports suggest that Chinese police may be murdering prisoners and selling their bodies to these plastination companies to put them on display around the world,” said Joel Chipkar, spokesperson for the Toronto- based Choose Humanity.
Th e exhibit, owned by Premier Exhibitions based in Atlanta, GA., uses actual human bodies preserved through plastination to provide a detailed look at the internal functions and organs. It is located at Niagara Falls Fun Zone on Fallsview Blvd. at the end of the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel.
Chipkar cites a disclaimer on Premier’s website that says it can’t verify the human remains are not those of people who were executed while incarcerated in Chinese prisons. He said the company also cannot produce death certificates or consent papers from relatives.
According to Choose Humanity, it is illegal to import human remains into Canada unless it is by a licensed public institution and is accompanied by death certifi cates.
“What if it was your loved one who was killed and skinned and put on display? These exhibits must be scrutinized by our government before we allow them in, otherwise we may be aiding in terrible crimes against humanity,” Chipkar said.
Staff at the Fun Zone referred media inquiries to Premier Exhibitions.
Th e company denies the groups claims, saying their suppliers have certifi ed that the specimens presented in its exhibitions have been donated by the deceased or an authorized family member for educational purposes.
“Despite countless eff orts over the years by individuals and groups trying to further their own agendas, there has never been any evidence tying the specimens in Premier’s exhibitions to unlawful or inhumane acts,” said Kate Whiteley, of Kirvin Doak Communications on behalf of Premier.
She said each of the specimens have been examined by a retired anatomy professor and a biological anthropologist and they have “never found any evidence of trauma associated with bodily injury or abuse.”
Choose Humanity on Friday said the exhibit is sponsored by Niagara Falls Tourism.
Wayne Thomson, chairman of tourism agency, said that is simply not true.
“It’s a private business,” he said. “We have nothing to do with it.”