Johannesburg – It looks like the intrigue of a horror film. The researchers remained on a remote research basis in Antarctica sending an email to the world, pleading to obtain help because a colleague is accused of assault.
But it was real. An urgent email was sent by a researcher from the Sanae IV isolated base in South Africa in Antarctica, accusing a man, one of the nine members of the team, of becoming violent and mentally unstable. In the e-mail sent to a journalist from the Swedish Times newspaper in South Africa, the researcher, who was not identified publicly, requests immediate action to ensure the safety of the team.
According to the Times, the researcher alleged that the team’s male member had physically assaulted a colleague, threatened to kill a different colleague and sexually assaulted another. However, South African officials later said that the sexual assault report was not correct.
“His behavior has become more and more obvious, and I feel important difficulties in feeling safe in his presence,” said the newspaper the researcher as writing, adding: “It is imperative that immediate action is taken to ensure my safety and the safety of all employees.”
The Forestry Department of South Africa, Fisheries and the Environment have published a declaration indicating that the alleged assault at the base was reported on February 27, triggering a response plan that saw the government agency using “trained professionals” to mediate. The department said that these mediators had continued to engage with the “almost daily” team.
According to the agency, the alleged aggressor had “voluntarily participated in an additional psychological assessment, has shown remorse and is readily cooperative to follow all the recommended interventions”.
The declaration continued by saying that the attacker had written apologies to the victim and was willing to “apologize verbally to the other members of the team”.
The South African Minister of the Environment, Dion George, told CBS News on Tuesday that “the basic situation remains calm and that everything is under control”.
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“I will keep close contact with the base to make sure that it remains in this way,” said George, adding that a “team of psychologists and other experts” was also in contact “direct and constant” with the team.
When he reached what he could do else to ensure the safety of the team, George said that he “envisaged available options”.
These options can be rare, because serious weather conditions have completely cut the sea base. The base is on stilts near a cliff side – a row of buildings in which the team will remain until December, in the heart of Antarctic summer, when a ship should start from South Africa to make the trip of almost 15 days to recover them.
An emergency evacuation, at a significant cost, would be required to bring the team out before that.
The Environment Department said that it had also activated a legal process of labor relations to investigate the [claim of] Physical assault and alleged sexual harassment. “”
There have been several incidents in the past with the distant team members threatening violence, and at least two other team members were evacuated in previous expeditions.
The latest incident fueled discussions on the reliability of psychometric tests given to team members before being deployed in the isolated station. Scientists sent previously to the base and others as he said to what extent he is alone, surrounded by white and silence and cut off from the rest of the world, and the balance sheet that can inflict the mental health of someone.
