NationStates Jolt Archive

Any comments, suggestions on how to improve, new edits to the proposal, etc are appreciated and welcomed.

I actually had a story to go with this, but it is fairly long and I'm not too sure how very long proposals are handled...I'll post the story in my next post...

--------------------------------

Category: Moral Decency
Strength: Strong

Background: In a long line of worldwide court decisions, bystanders consistently have been exempted from any duty to toss a rope to a drowning person, to warn the unsuspecting target of an impending assault, or to summon medical assistance for someone bleeding to death at the scene of an accident. Some of the decisions have been shocking in the extreme. The expert swimmer who a baby drowning before his eyes in a wading pool is not required to do anything at all about it, but may sit on the dock, smoke his cigarette, and watch the child drown.

The United Nations General Assembly,

Alarmed by the apathy developing in humanity in regard to their fellow humans,

Keeping in mind that only a number of nations have ever convicted citizens of a lack of action,

Noting with regret that there have been many cases where people have died due to a lack of action by others nearby,

Emphasizing the fact that the loss of human lives in this manner is not only tragic, but reflects upon a general lack of a common moral framework in society,

1) Confirms the the sanctity of a human life; and confirms the moral need for observers to act when their fellow citizens are in the immediate danger of injury or death;

2) Calls upon all UN Member Nations to enact laws in regards to cases where observers take no action in public to save others ("lack of action");

3) Further requests that all UN Member Nations establish a Court of Inquiry to investigate into possible cases of a lack of action by retrieving witness testimony; and recognizes the right of UN Member Nations to establish punishments for a lack of action as they see fit;

4) Designates a UN Worldwide Council ("Council") for annually reviewing UN Member Nation policies and laws regarding cases of a lack of action; and calls upon all UN Member Nations to submit a delegate as representation in the Council; who will help in the reviewing of UN Member Nation policies regarding cases of a lack of action;

5) Calls upon all UN Member Nations to record any cases of a lack of action; and submit a copy of their policies on cases of a lack of action, along with the cases in question to the Council for inspection annually; and authorizes the Council to make amendments and changes to UN Member Nation policies as needed in regards to cases of a lack of action;

6) Recognizes the right for UN Member Nations to prosecute citizens of other nations with proper evidence; and designates the Council to be the body for the proper trial of the individuals accused for their lack of action.

Here's the story base.

In 1964, Catherine Genovese, a 28 year old woman, was brutally raped and murdered. As she left work, she was chased by a man with a knife, and stabbed several times. Catherine screamed for help, and lights turned on in nearby apartment buildings. Two people looked out of their windows and saw Catherine lying on the ground bleeding, but did nothing except yell out at the attacker. The man heard them, and walked away. Catherine was left alone, but within five minutes, the attacker came back, and stabbed Catherine again. This time, over twenty people looked out their windows and saw the stabbing amidst the screams. None of them did anything to help Catherine. The attacker left again, but came back in a few hours, following the trail of blood leading to Catherine’s body. He located her half-conscious body, raped her, and then murdered her, all at the door of the entrance to an apartment complex. The next day, Catherine was found dead, with 17 stab wounds. After an investigation, the police found that over 38 people had witnessed part of the crime taking place. None of them did anything to help. Perhaps the most perturbing part of the whole crime was the excuses people made as to why they didn’t help. One witness simply replied, “I was tired.” The fact remains, however, that a single phone call during the 45 minute crime could have ended it, and would have saved Catherine’s life.

No... an infringement upon the rights and priviledges of a UN member. How criminal matters are handled within Laio... is our business.

Diego MacBernstien
Envoy to the UN
Grand Duchy of Laio

Alrindor was under the impression that the point of resolutions was to change things.

At least give some comments into the matter...it'd help.

Alrindor is under the impression that he can change things in his own nation, I presume. The crime cited above, took place in Alrindor's homeland?

Here in DubyaShrubland, those people would have been prosecuted. But, we would resent you attempting to re-write our laws, telling us how to handle such negligence.

Of course, you fail to define precisely what constitutes negligence and dereliction. The lifesaver who sits on a dock while a child drowns, possibly was not aware of her? Perhaps he was asleep? Perhaps he was impaired? One must delve into the details before jumping to conclusions. Blanket laws attempting to make everyone responsible for everyone could do as much harm as good. Soon, I'll have a crazy socialist state, where I am liable for teenage pregnancies, because I declined to neuter and/or sterilize every teenager in my nation.

Ah, but it is not meant as a blanket resolution. Although it can not account for every case, it is meant to address issues where people show a depraved lack of caring in public. Obviously, any case in private would have a very low chance of finding its way to a conviction. Changes will be made to the proposal to reflect that.

In the case of the swimmer, it is a quote taken from an author. Perhaps there should be a reverttion back to the original quote, which refers to an olympic swimmer instead of a normal one. In any case, the idea still stands that there should be some sort of moral framework to compel some to help others. As in the case of someone in the direct line of danger, as in being hit by a vehicle, the least that could be done is to shout out. And in the case where the observer was blind, then it would be obvious that the observer would not be in the wrong, and the case would be dismissed.

In addition, would it be better if the UN supported and urged the development of moral frameworks instead of making it mandatory?

you cant edit proposals, because if you change something after several people vote on, they voted for it the way it was say abortion since i am drafting that say originally i put 3rd trimester abortions illegal and everyone votes for it, would they still vote for it if i changed it to 2nd trimester or illegal altogether?? thats why you draft it on the forum.

This is a draft on the forum, the proposal has not been submitted yet. That is why the title still dictates that the proposal is in draft form for now.

gottcha kochise

The Logarchy abjectly refuses to endorse or even consider this resolution. Humans often panic in hazardous/emergency situations; adding the threat of prosecution will only intensify the natural hysteria surrounding said situations and render it more likely that people will not help. Bystanders in emergency situations are not rational beings; this bill presupposes that they are rational. For that error alone we will not endorse this resolution.

Furthermore, The Logarchy wishes to express its extreme disapproval of the use of the loaded term "right to life;" the delegate from Alrindor should be more careful to avoid loaded terms in the future.

Alrindor requests that the delegate from The Logarchy to suggest a term to use in place of "right to life".

how do you know if people lack action? isn't that just an opinion

Of course not. We believe that the proposal specifically states that this applies to cases where people take a depraved lack of action. As in the case of the expect swimmer, where it is obvious that a life could have been saved if it hadn't been for a lack of action. If this wasn't stated very clearly, please state so, and Alrindor will do its best to edit the proposal.

Alrindor requests that the delegate from The Logarchy to suggest a term to use in place of "right to life".

The delegate of the Logarchy suggests that the relevant portion of the proposal be excised and the remainder of that particular element of the proposal be rewritten to reflect the change in punctuation.

So noted, and changed.

Alrindor thanks The Logarchy for the help in reviewing the resolution.

However, we request support from any UN Delegates on how to better this resolution. It has been brought to our attention that it may be too extreme to force nations to develop moral frameworks. In response, Alrindor is willing to edit the clauses regarding UN Member Nation's actions to a strong suggestion instead of forcing nations to comply. However, it wishes to have the opinions of others before doing so.

The Republic of Sicrat opposes such a resolution as this, for the sole reason that it should be the nation's choice to enact such a law upon its citizenry. We also feel it is unprofessional (if not unlawful) to force all U.N. members to establish a new and costly branch to the judicial system. Sicrat also opposes this resolution because it is so easy to circumvent it.

We are sure that this proposal is made with good intentions.

However we are convinved that the Un should devote its energies and resources to matters of international scope and consequence.

This issue is purely one for domestic law; let each nation settle it as it will.

The Federation of Wetland is also against it, this is an infringement on the rights of our citizens. Furthermore Wetland takes offense against the title Moral Decency and its implication that the Wetlanders are not decent or moral.

You should try making this an issue as opposed to a proposal.

The Federation of Wetland is also against it, this is an infringement on the rights of our citizens. Furthermore Wetland takes offense against the title Moral Decency and its implication that the Wetlanders are not decent or moral.

The Commonwealth of the Logarchy, while united with you in opposition to this bill, suggests that the Federation of Wetland read up on what the category "Moral Decency" means.

the UN shouldn't be interfering in our national ways of discipling wrong doers.

This issue should be forgotten.

PING !

Your an idiot,

2) Calls upon all UN Member Nations to enact laws in regards to cases where observers take no action in public to save others ("lack of action");

... :shock:

Your right, the pregnant woman who does not throw herself in front of an injured security guard during a armed bank robbery is clearly a heinous crime. :roll:

I could go on, but, no, almost every other argument so far has made you look like a loud idiot, exactly who is the U.N. to control how we deal with crime situations, why not just have the U.N. launch a coup'de'tat while your at it, have U.N. Mili Police arrest, charge, judge and sentance every-one for every-thing.

Grrr. :evil:

This is so blatantly misguided I'm afraid I'll look like an idiot wasting my time opposing it, but, just in case the Sheep are about I'll hammer this one for a sec... :wink:

- The Rep of Komokom.

Alrindor requests that Komokom refrain from resurrecting dead draft proposals. Although it may be fun to do so, the draft has been obviously dropped due to a lack of support. The lack of action in this discussion should be enough to tell of that.