Anti-China Protest in Kathmandu, 562 Women Arrested

POSTED BY Raleigh-Elizabeth Smith, 13 May 2008

Reuters reports that Sunday, 562 women were arrested in the Nepali capital Kathmandu in an otherwise peaceful anti-China rally:

Nepali police detained 562 Tibetan women at an anti-China rally in Kathmandu on Sunday, the first all-women protest against Chinese rule in their homeland, officials said.

Some shouted "We want free Tibet" while others wept as they were dragged along the road to police vans and trucks and driven to detention centres. Many were wearing black armbands and had their mouths gagged with cloths.

Nepal considers Tibet part of China, a key donor and trade partner, and has been cracking down on protests by the exiled Tibetans against Beijing.

Police said the protesters would be freed later.

Exiled Tibetans have been protesting regularly ever since deadly riots broke out in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in March, followed by demonstrations in other Tibetan areas of China. Keep reading.