They were, and are, demanding the withdrawal of the gendarmerie from the region.
From the economist.com
He also is proposing a separate gendarmerie, details of which are still unclear.
From the latimes.com
The sergeant of the gendarmerie wants official credit for his role in the search.
From the guardian.co.uk
By law dated 16 February 1791 this force was renamed the gendarmerie nationale.
From the en.wikipedia.org
Besides performing military duties, the Marechaussee is also a gendarmerie force.
From the en.wikipedia.org
Gendarmerie had its network intelligence, always put under the mayor's knowledge.
From the en.wikipedia.org
It maintains gendarmerie stations throughout the rural parts of the territory.
From the en.wikipedia.org
He then ordered his gendarmerie, the Carabinieri, to arrest and imprison Mussolini.
From the en.wikipedia.org
In Argentina, the rank of ensign is used by both the air force and the gendarmerie.
From the en.wikipedia.org
More examples
French police force; a group of gendarmes or gendarmes collectively
The Belgian Gendarmerie (and) was the former paramilitary police force of Belgium. The Gendarmerie became a civilian police organisation in 1992, a status retained until January 1 2001, when it was, together with the other existing police forces in Belgium, abolished and replaced by the Local ...
In France, the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale) is a military institution in charge of public safety with police duties among the civilian population. It is also a military police / provost force. It has a strength of more than 105,975 persons (in 2007).http://www.defense.gouv. ...
The Greek Gendarmerie (Elliniki Chorofylaki) was the national gendarmerie and military police force of Greece.
The gendarmerie are the uniformed branch of the cantonal police of the French-speaking cantons of Switzerland, and their members are not soldiers but civilians.
A uniformed national police force, sometimes part of the military; the members of such a body are called gendarmes.