The Public Prosecution recently encouraged civilians to detain suspected criminals at a time when security forces have been largely absent from the streets, in some cases because they are striking for better wages and equipment. As a result, there have been a series of lynchings by citizens in various parts of the country. In one such case, a group of residents in a village near Al-Mahalla Al-Kobra in the Delta shot dead a man suspected of stealing a lorry. On the very same day, two other men, who'd allegedly stolen a tok-tok, were strung up by their feet. In the meantime, villagers in Mahallat al-Ziyad, el-Gharbia Governorate, beat up two men accused of kidnapping a girl, then strung them up in a public square. Footage of the lynching was widely viewed on the Internet. "The application of Islamic justice on outlaws by citizens and the blocking of roads are signs of the death of the state," local newspapers quoted Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki as saying after these lynchings. He said only the state is authorised to use force and, if this right is transferred to citizens, there is no state. "A state that allows this is an unjust state, because it does not protect its people," he explained. "In the absence of adequate state security, people are killing and lynching suspected offenders," Nobel Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, who is an opposition leader, said recently on his Twitter account. “Law and order is our immediate priority," he stressed. Ahmed Ali, a 35-year-old bus driver, wonders why violence has been spreading in our society like wildfire. “Why do people resort to vigilante justice on thugs and outlaws? Is it due to the lack of security and the spread of bullying and weapons or a loss of confidence in the state and the law?" Ali asked The Egyptian Gazette. "This is a natural reaction to the fact that people have been feeling more and more insecure over the past two years," says Ali Naggui, a 30-year-old Arabic-language teacher at a governmental school. Vigilante incidents, increasingly common in the two years since Hosni Mubarak's ousting, have become symptomatic of the growing chaos in Egypt, as President Mohamed Morsi struggles to revive an ailing economy reeling from its slowest growth in two decades, rising inflation and dwindling foreign reserves, as Naggui told this newspaper. "People taking the law into their own hands is considered a distortion and abuse of Islam," Professor of Sociology Nadia Radwan told el-Messa daily. “Our religion does not give us the right to assault or mutilate others," she added. Dr Radwan explained that the lack of security should not be an excuse for people to punish thugs or torture criminals. If this continues, our society will become a jungle, where only the fittest survive. "Egyptians are fed up. They have had enough of what has been happening. This is why they have been taking the law into their own hands, trying to restore some sort of order in a country which has been in a state of chaos for more than two years now," Professor Reda Abdel-Khaleq of Al-Azhar University's Faculty of Pharmacology, told this newspaper. "If the police can't or won't do their job, then someone or a group of people must restore order; if not, there will only be more chaos and insecurity," he added. He also said that the police are basically out of the picture, as they aren't comfortable with their position or their role in the wake of the uprising. Major-General Abdel-Moneim Fayeq, a military expert, points out that the terrible violence is something new in Egyptian society, as Egyptians tend by nature to be peaceful and in need of a safe, secure existence. "The main reasons for this problem are frustration and uncertainty about the future, the lack of security and the chaos. “All these factors together have generated a social class who brazenly and rudely bully their fellow citizens in broad daylight," General Fayeq told el-Messa. “Recent months have witnessed a vicious cycle of violence and bloodletting. However, we haven't seen any tough action taken against those who destroy people's lives, wreaking havoc and spreading the law of jungle. The lack of security is closely linked to the absence of law," he added. "The concerned authorities must strictly apply the law on outlaws and other criminals. This must happen immediately, as prompt justice will put an end to all acts of kidnappings, as well as the armed robberies of people's homes, shops, banks and cars," Dr Yasser Naguib, an assistant lecturer in the Faculty of Languages and Translation, Al-Azhar University, told this paper. Mohie Selim, a professor of civil law at the University of el-Menoufiya in the Delta, says that the law condones vigilante justice, but only judges can sanction this, not the man in the street. “The concerned authorities should work together to achieve justice and restore security and stability in a country severely battered by political divisions, chaos and turmoil," Selim stressed.
