corps habillés

a country's uniformed security services collectively

Newsroom and political shorthand for the state's uniformed services taken together: police, army, gendarmerie, customs and the rest. Current across Francophone Africa and best documented in Togo, it turns up constantly in reporting on coups, security sector reform and crackdowns, treating the men and women in uniform as one bloc rather than naming any single service.

Après le coup d'État, les corps habillés ont pris position autour du palais présidentiel.

After the coup, the corps habillés took up positions around the presidential palace.

Common in West African press coverage of security matters. Cited uses include a 2015 book by Joël Glasman on the colonial origins of policing in Togo, and a 2013 Jeune Afrique article on looting linked to uniformed units.