>it's the same though process that leads to the destruction of budda statues by the talibans
I disagree with this. The thought process is "return stolen items" not "destroy stolen items."
Harvard doesn't believe it owns the human remains because they were taken without consent (stolen) and wants to return them to the next of kin. This happened recently enough that there's a good chance there's close-ish relatives still living.
If the remains were donated willingly for bookbinding it would not be a problem.
So what's happening is Harvard is removing part of the book that it believes it doesn't rightfully own (and aren't even original to it!) and are trying returning that part to its rightful owner. They are rebinding the book, not destroying it.
>After careful study, stakeholder engagement, and consideration, Harvard Library and the Harvard Museum Collections Returns Committee concluded that the human remains used in the book’s binding no longer belong in the Harvard Library collections, due to the ethically fraught nature of the book’s origins and subsequent history. The Library is now in the process of conducting additional provenance and biographical research into the book, Bouland, and the anonymous female patient, as well as consulting with appropriate authorities at the University and in France to determine a final respectful disposition of these human remains.
I disagree with this. The thought process is "return stolen items" not "destroy stolen items."
Harvard doesn't believe it owns the human remains because they were taken without consent (stolen) and wants to return them to the next of kin. This happened recently enough that there's a good chance there's close-ish relatives still living.
If the remains were donated willingly for bookbinding it would not be a problem.
So what's happening is Harvard is removing part of the book that it believes it doesn't rightfully own (and aren't even original to it!) and are trying returning that part to its rightful owner. They are rebinding the book, not destroying it.
>After careful study, stakeholder engagement, and consideration, Harvard Library and the Harvard Museum Collections Returns Committee concluded that the human remains used in the book’s binding no longer belong in the Harvard Library collections, due to the ethically fraught nature of the book’s origins and subsequent history. The Library is now in the process of conducting additional provenance and biographical research into the book, Bouland, and the anonymous female patient, as well as consulting with appropriate authorities at the University and in France to determine a final respectful disposition of these human remains.