Crime in Antarctica

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While crime in Antarctica is relatively rare, [1] isolation and boredom affect certain people there negatively and may lead to crime. [2] Alcoholism is a known problem on the continent and has led to fights and indecent exposure. [3] Other types of crime that have occurred in Antarctica include illicit drug use, torturing and killing wildlife, racing motorbikes through environmentally sensitive areas, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder and arson. Sexual harassment also has been reported. [4]

Contents

Robberies are rare and unlikely in Antarctica because people entering cannot bring many belongings onto the continent and because there is very little use for money. [3]

Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, ratified by 53 nations, persons accused of a crime in Antarctica are subject to punishment by their own country. [3]

National laws applying to crimes in Antarctica

South Africa

South African citizens in Antarctica are subject to South African law under the South African Citizens in Antarctica Act, 1962 . Violations of the Antarctic Treaty System are criminal offences under the Antarctic Treaties Act, 1996 . Under these two acts, Antarctica is deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the magistrate's court at Cape Town. [5]

United Kingdom

The Antarctic Act 1994 extends the laws of every part of the United Kingdom to UK nationals in Antarctica. [6] Additionally, the Commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory may enact laws for the territory. [7]

United States

The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 (enacted 12 October 1984) covers crimes committed by Americans or crimes committed against Americans. [8] Any American who is outside of the United States, but not in another country, is still subject to certain U.S. laws. All Americans committing a crime, and any foreigner committing a crime against an American outside of a sovereign state, are subject to prosecution in a U.S. federal court. This includes international waters and Antarctica. [8] Although nations claim territory in Antarctica, the United States does not recognize these claims.

Examples of crimes covered by the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 include murder, maiming, rape, arson, treason, and bribing a federal official. [1]

New Zealand

The Antarctica Act 1960 describes the jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand to deal with offences committed in the Ross Dependency and certain other parts of Antarctica. [9]

Sexual harassment and assault

The Australian Antarctic Division released an external review in 2022 revealing allegations of sexual harassment. [10] The division director stepped down in 2023, ahead of the release of additional findings from a subsequent inquiry. [11]

The United States Antarctic Program commissioned an external review following allegations of sexual harassment. The resulting Sexual Assault/Harassment Prevention and Response (SAHPR) report [12] was published in 2022, highlighting issues of sexual assault and harassment, mistrust of the contracted companies, and suggesting avenues for change. In response, the US Congress Committee of Science and Technology held a session addressing the report. [13] In 2023, The National Science Foundation Office of the Inspector General released a report titled "Law Enforcement Perspectives on Sexual Assault and Stalking Issues Pertaining to the United States Antarctic Program". [14]

List of crimes in Antarctica

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antarctic Treaty System</span> International treaties concerning Antarctica

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, designating the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity; for the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which implements the treaty system, is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both. Additionally, assault is a criminal act in which a person intentionally causes fear of physical harm or offensive contact to another person. Assault can be committed with or without a weapon and can range from physical violence to threats of violence. Assault is frequently referred to as an attempt to commit battery, which is the deliberate use of physical force against another person. The deliberate inflicting of fear, apprehension, or terror is another definition of assault that can be found in several legal systems. Depending on the severity of the offense, assault may result in a fine, imprisonment, or even death.

A hate crime is crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) people frequently experience violence directed toward their sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression. This violence may be enacted by the state, as in laws prescribing punishment for homosexual acts, or by individuals. It may be psychological or physical and motivated by biphobia, gayphobia, homophobia, lesbophobia, aphobia, and transphobia. Influencing factors may be cultural, religious, or political mores and biases.

Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes.

In law, provocation is when a person is considered to have committed a criminal act partly because of a preceding set of events that might cause a reasonable individual to lose self control. This makes them less morally culpable than if the act was premeditated (pre-planned) and done out of pure malice. It "affects the quality of the actor's state of mind as an indicator of moral blameworthiness."

Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence that includes child sexual abuse, groping, rape, drug facilitated sexual assault, and the torture of the person in a sexual manner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual harassment</span> Unwanted sexual attention or advances

Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment can be physical and/or a demand or request for sexual favors, making sexually colored remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual abuse or assault. Harassment can occur in many different social settings such as the workplace, the home, school, or religious institutions. Harassers or victims can be of any gender.

A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, assault, rape and assassination, as well as crimes in which violence is used as a method of coercion or show of force, such as robbery, extortion and terrorism. Violent crimes may, or may not, be committed with weapons. Depending on the jurisdiction, violent crimes may be regarded with varying severities from homicide to harassment.

Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault, which is the act of creating apprehension of such contact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmer Station</span> United States research station in Antarctica

Palmer Station is a United States research station in Antarctica located on Anvers Island, the only US station located north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other U.S. Antarctic stations, is operated by the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) of the National Science Foundation. The base is about as distant from the equator as Fairbanks, Alaska.

Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as the greater tendency to blame victims of rape than victims of robbery if victims and perpetrators knew each other prior to the commission of the crime. The Gay Panic Defense has also been used to justify violence against LGBTQ people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Antarctic Program</span> American government initiative

The United States Antarctic Program is an organization of the United States government which has a presence in the Antarctica continent. Founded in 1959, the USAP manages all U.S. scientific research and related logistics in Antarctica as well as aboard ships in the Southern Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street harassment</span> Harassment occurring in a public setting

Street harassment is a form of harassment, primarily sexual harassment that consists of unwanted sexualised comments, provocative gestures, honking, wolf whistles, indecent exposures, stalking, persistent sexual advances, and touching by strangers, in public areas such as streets, shopping malls and public transportation. Besides actions or comments that contain a sexual connotation, it often includes homophobic and transphobic slurs, and hateful comments referencing race, religion, class, ethnicity and disability. The practice is rooted in power and control and is often a reflection of societal discrimination, and has been argued to sometimes result from a lack of opportunities for expression of interest or affection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Sweden</span>

Crime in Sweden is defined by the Swedish Penal Code and in other Swedish laws and statutory instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual violence in South Africa</span>

The rate of sexual violence in South Africa is among the highest recorded in the world. Police statistics of reported rapes as a per capita figure has been dropping in recent years, although the reasons for the drop has not been analysed and it is not known how many rapes go unreported. More women are attacked than men, and children have also been targeted, partly owing to a myth that having sex with a virgin will cure a man of HIV/AIDS. Rape victims are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS owing to the high prevalence of the disease in South Africa. "Corrective rape" is also perpetrated against LGBT men and women.

Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term stalking is used with some differing definitions in psychiatry and psychology, as well as in some legal jurisdictions as a term for a criminal offense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in the Philippines</span>

Crime is present in various forms in the Philippines, and remains a serious issue throughout the country. Illegal drug trade, human trafficking, arms trafficking, murder, corruption and domestic violence remain significant concerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015–16 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany</span> Mass sexual assaults mostly in Cologne and by North African men

During the 2015–2016 celebrations of New Year's Eve in Germany, approximately 1,200 women were reported to have been sexually assaulted, especially in the city of Cologne. In many of the incidents, while these women were in public spaces, they were surrounded and assaulted by large groups of men who were identified by officials as Arab or North African men. The Federal Criminal Police Office confirmed in July 2016 that 1,200 women had been sexually assaulted on that night.

Criminal activity in Victoria, Australia is combated by the Victoria Police and the Victorian court system, while statistics about crime are managed by the Crime Statistics Agency. Modern Australian states and cities, including Victoria, have some of the lowest crime rates recorded globally with Australia ranked the 13th safest nation and Melbourne ranked the 5th safest city globally. As of September 2018 the CBD of Melbourne had the highest rate of overall criminal incidents in the state (15,949.9), followed by Latrobe (12,896.1) and Yarra (11,119.2). Rural areas have comparatively high crime rates, with towns such as Mildura (9,222.0) and Greater Shepparton (9,111.8) having some of the highest crime rates in the state.

References

  1. 1 2 "Audit of NSF's Law Enforcement Program in the Antarctic" (PDF). National Science Foundation Office of the Inspector General. 30 August 2005. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 Joyner, Christopher Clayton; Chopra, Sudhir K. (28 July 1988). The Antarctic Legal Regime. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 67. ISBN   90-247-3618-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rousseau, Bryant (28 September 2016). "Cold Cases: Crime and Punishment in Antarctica". The New York Times . Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  4. ↑ Medina, Jennifer (24 September 2018). "Sexual Harassment Allegations Wipe a Name Off the Map". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  5. ↑ Joubert, J. J., ed. (2014). Criminal Procedure Handbook (11th ed.). Cape Town: Juta. p. 42. ISBN   978-1-48510-061-4.
  6. ↑ "Part III of the Antarctica Act 1994". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "Legislation". Website of the Government of the British Antarctic Territory. Government of the British Antarctic Territory. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Chapter 6: Living and Working at USAP Facilities : U.S. Criminal Jurisdiction" (PDF). 2018–2020 USAP Participant Guide. United States Antarctic Program. 2018. p. 55. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  9. ↑ "Antarctica Act 2024". New Zealand Legislation. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  10. ↑ "Antarctic expeditioners complain of 'predatory', widespread sexual harassment as minister, division urge change". ABC News. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "Australian Antarctic head resigns as division faces turmoil over workplace culture". ABC News. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  12. ↑ "USAP SAHPR Report" (PDF).
  13. ↑ Building a Safer Antarctic Research Environment (EventID=115205) , retrieved 1 April 2023
  14. ↑ "NSF OIG Law Enforcement Perspectives on Sexual Assault and Stalking Issues Pertaining to the United States Antarctic Program" (PDF).
  15. 1 2 Bennett, John (15 September 2016). "How Antarctic isolation affects the mind". Canadian Geographic . Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  16. 1 2 Barrett, Emma; Martin, Paul (23 October 2014). Extreme: Why some people thrive at the limits. OUP Oxford. p. 88. ISBN   978-0-19-164565-5.
  17. ↑ Hutchison, Kristan (3 February 2002). "Weathering the Winter" (PDF). The Antarctic Sun . pp. 9–10. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  18. ↑ "Almirante Brown Station, Antarctic Peninsula". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  19. ↑ Rejcek, Peter (20 April 2015). "Passing of a Legend: Death of Capt. Pieter J. Lenie at age 91 marks the end of an era in Antarctica". The Antarctic Sun. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  20. ↑ Spielmann, Peter James (14 October 1996). "FBI Agents To Visit Antarctica In Rare Investigation of Assault". The Spokesman-Review . Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  21. ↑ "Antarctica Assault Defendant Released to Halfway House". Honolulu Star-Bulletin . 22 October 1996. p. A-5.
  22. ↑ "Assault subject pleads not guilty to charges". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 26 October 1996.
  23. 1 2 Serena, Katie (17 November 2017). "The Mystery Of The South Pole's Only Murder". All That's Interesting. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  24. ↑ Case 4 - The Death of Rodney Marks (Podcast). Mysterious Circumstances. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  25. 1 2 "Man faces attempted murder charge after stabbing at Russia's Antarctic outpost". The Guardian . 24 October 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  26. 1 2 Hale, Tom (26 October 2018). "A Remote Antarctic Research Station Is Now The Scene Of A Brutal Attempted Murder". IFL Science . Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  27. 1 2 Haskins, Caroline (25 October 2018). "An Attempted Murder at a Research Station Shows How Crimes Are Prosecuted in Antarctica". Motherboard . Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  28. ↑ "Cold-Blooded: Scientist In Antarctica Accused Of Stabbing Colleague For Spoiling The Endings Of Books". CBS Los Angeles . 30 October 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  29. 1 2 Mandelbaum, Ryan F. (24 October 2018). "Report: Russian Researcher Charged With Attempted Murder in Stabbing of Colleague in Antarctica". Gizmodo . Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  30. 1 2 "Суд в Петербурге прекратил дело полярника, ударившего коллегу ножом" [A court in St. Petersburg dismissed the case of a polar explorer who stabbed a colleague]. MIA Russia Today. 8 February 2018.
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