Liberia: Public Frustrations Spark Mob Justice

The guns in Liberia's civil war have been silent for several months now, as the country makes tentative efforts to establish lasting peace. But in many respects, inhabitants of the capital - Monrovia - have simply exchanged one sort of war for another: the battle against criminal activity. Fourteen years of intermittent fighting have stripped government departments of the personnel and equipment needed to perform their duties. The result is that citizens have taken to meting out mob justice to real and perceived criminals.