25 signatures reached
To: The UK Government
Change The Law To Protect The Dead
Change the law to prevent unnecessary disinterment of human remains for scientific study and testing, and prevent archaeologists from treating human remains as objects of scientific curiosity.
Why is this important?
At the moment, UK law allows any person to be disinterred for scientific testing, and without the consent of relatives or descendants if the remains are over 100 years old. Licences are issued routinely, regardless of the identity of the person being disinterred, and human remains must be kept available for testing as long as the licence holder chooses. Large portions of the remains are often destroyed during testing, and remains are frequently kept in storage boxes in universities and various other institutions. Even when remains are returned for reburial, by law, the licence holder is allowed to disinter again for further testing at will, and there's nothing the relatives can do to stop this. Nor can they prevent archaeologists from ignoring the known wishes of the deceased, their faith (if known or applicable), the circumstances under which they were originally buried, or relocating them to a different burial site.
King Richard III has been significantly damaged during testing, and his remains are going to be scientifically preserved in a sterile ossuary hidden inside a coffin, so that he is prevented from decay after reburial - his remains are to be kept available for further disinterment and testing by law. Permission is being sought to search for and disinter three of his close relatives, two of them children, and a search is underway for King Harold (of the Battle of Hastings) at the moment. Other royal burials have also become of scientific interest since King Richard's discovery.
In Leicester a couple who were buried over 1000 years ago holding hands, have recently been dug up and parted from each other for no justifiable reason.
War graves have also been disturbed, and any soldiers that have died during WWI are at risk of disturbance and testing, with little to nothing their relatives and descendants can do to prevent it. All reburials over 100 years old are at immediate potential risk if the scientific community takes an interest in them, and if the law isn't changed to protect the dead, each one of us and our loved ones may also be one day at risk from disturbance and destruction for the sake of curiosity.
The law needs to be changed to protect the dead from deliberate disturbance and destructive testing, and to make archaeologists, universities, and the Church of England respect the peace of the dead, respect their own burial wishes, and the rights of family and descendants (where traceable).
