Crime in Antarctica: how the law is violated on Earth's most uninhabited continent

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

There are very few people in Antarctica, but even among the polar explorers there are criminals.

Who and how lives in Antarctica and what laws are in effect there

Antarctica is a unique continent covering about 20% of the Earth's southern hemisphere. There is no Antarctica on this mainland. National Geographic indigenous and resident population. Its only inhabitants, besides animals, are scientists and auxiliary personnel of polar stations from dozens of countries, who spend long business trips here. The number of people varies from 1,000 in winter to 5,000 in summer.

Antarctica claims different parts of the continent. National Geographic has seven countries: New Zealand, Australia, France, Norway, UK, Chile and Argentina. Nevertheless, according to the Antarctic Treaty, which entered into force in 1961, this territory does not belong to any state, it is free from politics and nuclear weapons, and all countries of the world have the right to establish research bases on it.

There is no police, no courts or prisons, but occasionally there are lawbreakers. According to an international treaty, criminals who committed atrocities in Antarctica are subject to the law enforcement practice of their country. Accordingly, they are judged at home.

There are also exceptions. For example, polar explorers sort out minor incidents at the American McMurdo station themselves. Thus, the head of this station has the status of a special deputy marshal of the United States and can arrest, detain and search suspects. This is in line with the 1984 law, which made United States citizens accountable for their crimes under American law, regardless of where the incident occurred.

McMurdo is the largest Antarctica. National Geographic Antarctic Station, located in the southern part of Ross Island and capable of accommodating up to 1,250 inhabitants. It is a whole small city, consisting of 80 buildings: research centers, hostels, a fire station and shops. The only ATM on the continent is also located here.

What crimes happen in Antarctica and what are their reasons

Many stations can only be reached by sea by Antarctica. National Geographic in the summer. Air traffic depends greatly on the weather. The confined space, limited communication, long monotonous work, harsh climate and long polar days and nights - all this makes life at the station difficult.

Prolonged isolation can lead to hysteria. There is even a special term - "expeditionary frenzy". And an extremely long stay with the same people leads to the fact that conflicts are aggravated by Lorenz K. Aggression, or the So-called evil. M. 2017: Any little thing becomes a pretext for aggression.

Aggression, in turn, gives rise to violations of the law: from relatively harmless penetrations into protected areas to attempted murder.

But thefts in Antarctica are extremely rare Rousseau B. Cold Cases: Crime and Punishment in Antarctica. The New York Times, since polar explorers do not take a lot of money and valuable things with them - they are not particularly needed on an expedition.

Isolation and boredom, constant communication with the same people push researchers to abuse alcohol, which, by the way, is imported at the station quite legally. A hot mixture of these factors often becomes Rousseau B. Cold Cases: Crime and Punishment in Antarctica. The New York Times cause crime on the coldest continent.

Physical violence

The aggression caused by the stress of long expeditions can take very dangerous forms. So, in the 50s of the last century at the Australian station "Mawson" polar explorers were Haskins C. An Attempted Murder at a Research Station Shows How Crimes Are Prosecuted in Antarctica. VICE is forced to lock one of the expedition members in the warehouse. He was so aggressive that he only let the doctor in.

In 1996, Haskins C. An Attempted Murder at a Research Station Shows How Crimes Are Prosecuted in Antarctica occurred at McMurdo Station. VICE A scuffle between cooks, one of whom used a hammer and wounded two other kitchen workers. Then for the first time representatives of the FBI arrived in Antarctica. Before their arrival, the aggressive chef was locked up in his room. However, he, like other Antarctic criminals, had, in general, nowhere to run. The troublemaker was sent to the States, where he received four years in prison.

Four years later, in 2000, Rousseau B. Cold Cases: Crime and Punishment in Antarctica occurred. The New York Times is a mysterious incident that may have been the first and only murder in the history of the southernmost continent. Then at the American station "Amundsen - Scott" Australian polar explorer Rodney Marks died. Since there was no permanent connection with the "mainland", his body lay in the refrigerator for several months. Subsequently, the investigation established that Marx's death came from methanol poisoning. Whether it was an accident, suicide or murder, and how the intoxication occurred, is still unknown Rousseau B. Cold Cases: Crime and Punishment in Antarctica. The New York Times.

Often conflicts arise over alcohol and drug abuse. Alcoholism is generally quite a serious problem for stations in Antarctica.

So, in 2009, a drunken employee of the South Korean Antarctic station "King Sejong" pounced on Haskins C. An Attempted Murder at a Research Station Shows How Crimes Are Prosecuted in Antarctica. VICE punched the cook and threw chairs at him.

And more recently, in October 2018, at the Russian research station Bellingshausen, electrical engineer Sergei Savitsky hit Haskins C. several times during a drunken squabble. An Attempted Murder at a Research Station Shows How Crimes Are Prosecuted in Antarctica. VICE with a knife of welder Oleg Beloguzov. There were no serious consequences: Beloguzov was quickly taken to a hospital in Chile. One Cold-Blooded: Scientist In Antarctica Accused Of Stabbing Colleague For Spoiling The Endings Of Books. CBS Los Angeles version, Savitsky attacked Beloguzov because he spoiled the endings of unfinished books; on the other - because of ridicule.

At the same time, Bellingshausen is not such an isolated place. This station is located on the coast, far from the cold center of the continent, and their colleagues from Chile, China, Korea and Argentina live next to the Russian polar explorers. In 2013, Metallica even performed here and visited the Russian Bellingshausen station in Antarctica. Interfax Metallica Group. The temperature, however, does not go down The Soviet polar station Bellingshausen opens off the coast of western Antarctica. The Russian Geographical Society is below −7 ° С, and is completely "resort" - in comparison, for example, with the conditions at the Vostok station, where in 1983 LM Savatyugin and MA Preobrazhenskaya were registered. Vostok station. Russian research in Antarctica. - SPb. 1999 record -89, 2 ° C.

Arson

Alcohol is also associated with one of the known incidents of arson in Antarctica.

In 1981, a drunken polar explorer set fire to Antarctica Fire History during the winter. Cool Antarctica Chapel Building at McMurdo Station. The fire was quickly extinguished. The next day, the arsonist himself admitted that he did it in order to get home faster. His wish came true, but in his homeland a dock awaited him.

A similar, but no longer related to alcohol incident occurred at the Argentine station "Almirante Brown", the head of which burned Rejcek P. Passing of a Legend: Death of Capt. Pieter J. Lenie at age 91 marks the end of an era in Antarctica after being ordered to stay for the winter. The personnel were rescued by the American ship Hero.

Sexual harassment

In 2016, UCLA doctor Jane Willenbring accused Medina J. Sexual Harassment Allegations Wipe a Name Off the Map. The New York Times by Boston University professor David Marshant in harassment. According to her, the famous geologist, after whom the huge glacier is named, pestered her on a field expedition in 1999-2000. He pushed Jane Willenbring off a steep slope several times, threw stones, mocked, insulted and offered her to have sex with his brother (he was also on the research team).

According to surveys, more than 60% of women on field expeditions are sexually harassed.

Willenbring, 22, then went to Antarctica for the first time as a graduate student. In a team of four, she was the only woman. Her words were confirmed by other former graduate students of Marshant, Deborah Doe and Hillary Tully, reporting similar incidents. The professor was fired, he was denied an award from the Geological Society of America, and the glacier named after him was renamed Matataua.

Violence against animals and violation of protected areas

Wildlife hunting is prohibited in Antarctica today. Although back in the middle of the last century it was considered normal Humphries M. What life is like in the research stations in Antarctica, which is so remote it’s only now experiencing the pandemic. Insider, because the supply of food was very rare and sometimes seals, cormorants and penguins became the only source of food.

Nevertheless, there are known cases of violence against Antarctic animals that are not even related to hunting. For example, Chinese builders were caught hitting skuas with sticks, chasing penguins over rocks and riding motorcycles in ecologically sensitive areas.