Faisal Ali Addabi

Summary of the Problem: there is a human phenomenon, remarkable in many countries in the world including the Middle-Eastern countries called Genovese Syndrome or Bystander Apathy, which is a psychological and social phenomenon meaning that a person’s omission or failure to provide help to a victim is highly expected if other persons are present at the same time and place as each bystander waits for intervention from the other and the final outcome will be no help from all bystanders! Here we have three legal examples proving the same and we can display them as follows:

The First Crime
In 1964 ،Katherine Suzan Genovese, an American national, was stabbed to death by a killer near her apartment in Queens in New York City. 38 of her neighbors witnessed the commission of the crime and they did not intervene to stop the commission of the crime and they did not try to save her even when she cried out for help several times.

The Second Crime
On 20, June, 2022, a student at Mansoura University called Mohammad Adil slaughtered his colleague Naira Ashraf on the main street, in front of the University and in front of many witnesses because she rejected his marriage proposal, no witness intervened in order to prevent the commission of the crime and save the victim!

The Third Crime
On 9, August, 2022, and in Zagazig city, a student called Islam Mohammad, killed student Salma Bahgat, by stabbing her 17 times on the main street and in front of many witnesses because she rejected his marriage proposal, no witness intervened in order to prevent the commission of the crime and save the victim!

We notice that most of the criminal laws in the world do not criminalize omission and do not penalize witnesses who do not prevent the commission of crime and save the victims, this general legal stance is justifiable based on the following reasons:

According to the law, omission, which is a passive attitude, is not deemed a crime unless the law expressly criminalized it , for example, there is no crime if a group of witnesses did not save a child from drowning in a swimming pool, but not saving the child by the lifeguard is deemed a crime as saving persons from drowning is the lifeguard’s duty under the contract signed by him\her, also the traffic laws, which are criminal laws, bind witnesses to report the traffic accident to the police an ambulance in case there are injured persons and any omission to do this is deemed a crime.

The law does not order ordinary persons to prevent crimes and save victims if this exposes them to danger or loss taking into account that this is the police job.

At the moment of committing a murder crime, witnesses usually feel a mixture of fear, danger and incomprehension, their minds will become paralyzed and the sudden shock resulting from ferocity prevents them from making any quick move to prevent the commission of the crime or save the victim.

At the moment of committing a murder crime, each witness thinks that the other witness will move, prevent the crime and save the victim, and the final result is: no move from all bystanders and no help from all bystanders.

Summary of the Solution: even if there is no legal duty which binds a person to provide help for the purpose of preventing the commission of crime and saving the victim, there is a moral and humanitarian duty which binds any ordinary person to do so, at least, any person shall follow the golden tripartite rules which are ( do not wait, do not hesitate and do not expect), the immediate assistance which can be given at the time of the commission of the crime is to call the police , call the ambulance and take a photo of the crime scene with mobile to present it as evidence in front of the court if necessary, such a simple move may save the victim’s life !