[20201027]IN11525_尼日利亚：#EndSARS抗议警察暴行.pdf

CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Nigeria: #EndSARS Protests Against Police Brutality October 27, 2020 Since early October, large youth-led protests against police abuses have shaken cities across Nigeria, Africas most populous country. The demonstrations emerged after video circulated on social media purporting to show an extrajudicial killing by members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the national Nigeria Police Force (NPF) responsible for investigating violent offenses. SARS personnel previously had been implicated in extensive human rights abuses by what the U.S. State Department describes as “credible international organizations.” In response to protesters calls to disband SARSa demand amplified on Twitter and other social media via the hashtag #EndSARSPresident Muhammadu Buhari announced on October 11 that the unit would be dissolved and its officers retrained and redeployed as part of a new task force. Demonstrations and social media campaigns have continued, with activists criticizing SARSs dissolution as insufficient and calling for additional reforms, including accountability for past abuses and higher police