The disconcerting popularity of “justice populaire” in the Eastern DR Congo

Mob justice, or justice populaire as it is called in the DR Congo, is the practice by which citizens “take the law into their own hands” and collectively kill alleged perpetrators of crime or witchcraft, for example by beating or stoning them to death, or by burning them alive. The forms that this practice takes and the circumstances in which it is manifested are highly variable, with killings being sometimes more orchestrated, for instance when involving youth gangs or vigilantes, and sometimes more spontaneous.