Tibetan Protest

About two weeks ago, while on another assignment, I got a phone call from an Agence-France Presse photographer/mentor/friend that there was a protest going on outside of the Chinese Embassy in a half hour. I immediately left the (boring) Oliver Twist play I was covering, for this, something I had been wanting and hoping to cover while being in Nepal.

I got there just as it started and there were about 100 Tibetan protesters in the streets marching, shouting and waving flags and banners. Pretty peaceful I would say. Apparently not to Nepali cops; this does not fly with the them. Immediately protesters were detained and thrown into awaiting trucks, taking them to local jails. I have never seen people so passionate, and with so much conviction as these Tibetans. Right before my eyes, people were being punched, pushed and kicked to the ground. I even saw one man get kicked in the stomach and head, after he was unconscious. This is when I stepped in and tried to help him.

You have to be a person before a photographer sometimes. I could tell he could have been killed if it was to keep going. I got a group of other protesters and helped them drag his limp body to the sidewalk. I was punched by cops and told to stop helping him and leave the scene. I said, "This man could die!" and was pushed some more by that response. My first aid and WFR kicking in, I made sure he was still breathing then tried to wake him up. People were screaming and crying that he was dead. They dumped cold water on him and a few minutes later he woke up. Needless to say, I was sure there were many internal injuries, just looking from his bruised and battered stomach. I have a picture of this man's head out cold on the cement with a cops boot next to it, right after he kicked him one last time.

Meanwhile, nothing stopped as more and more people were hauled off into more awaiting jail trucks. The protesters would not stop the chant "Free Tibet!" even as they were thrown into the trucks. It didn't matter if it was women or old people, they were treated just as poorly as the rest. Absolutely no human rights in this process. Bamboo sticks flying in the air, coming down with a snap onto limbs and skin.

After about forty five minutes of hell, it was all over, streets cleared, photographers scanning their photos, other tourists continuing on their way, storekeepers back in their shops.
However, I was shaken up for days to come.