When Mr. Qurei's supporters complain about their impotence over police matters, Mr. Arafat's advisers say the lawlessness is caused not by their fecklessness but by the Israeli occupation and periodic helicopter strikes and killings of Palestinian militants.
Prosecutor-General Viktor Pshonka warned protesters to stop causing "anarchy and lawlessness" by blocking the buildings.
Speaking on Russian TV, the ex-leader condemned "lawlessness" in Ukraine, saying the situation there had caused him "very many sleepless nights".
The crime has caused protests against police corruption and general lawlessness in various Ukrainian cities, as well as a lot of general soul-searching.
This has been seen as no mean feat, given that Davao City lies on the coast of the Philippines' troubled southern island, Mindanao, where the instability caused by the Islamic insurgency – one of the longest civil conflicts in history – has provided fertile ground for complete and utter lawlessness.
It is not just this week's protests that are a reason for concern: rising lawlessness in the north Caucasus may cause problems not just for Russia, but for the entire region.Russia is not stable.
Along with the kidnappings' causing disruption in Baghdad, the lawlessness of Iraq's highways has starkly illustrated the weakness of Iraq's security forces, which nearly collapsed last year and are only slowly being rebuilt.
Many say that the first step must begin with the national police force, which critics have said that Mr. Aristide uses as a weapon to punish political enemies, and the band of armed gangs -- known as chimeres after a fire-breathing monster from Greek mythology -- that many say cause much of the violent lawlessness.
President Bush sees desperation where local residents of Sadr City see growing lawlessness; he sees Iraqi armed forces and police leading local security where others see growing partisan militias causing alarming local unrest, while American troops are forced more and more into the background.
The rights group's report said the Afghan government's failure to punish abusive local police officers or the militias known as arbakai was causing harm in several ways: seeding the ground for further abuses, building local support for the Taliban and eroding people's faith in the government to crack down on corruption, lawlessness and powerful local warlords.
