During the opposition march, security forces did nothing; they just watched us walk by. But after it ended, when some of us headed to Pearl Square, they blocked our way before we got anywhere near it, and within minutes were spraying us with massive amounts of tear gas and started shooting rubber bullets into the crowd. They used sound horns, too. I was on the front lines, and soon couldn’t breathe; some of my fellow protesters guided me out of the crowd and into a car. Many people were taken away for treatment – in private homes, not in hospitals, because we don’t trust the authorities. It wasn’t just men who suffered – there were women and children in the crowd, too.

 

The march organisers told us not to go to Pearl Square, but it’s hard for people who were tortured, who lost loved ones, to stay away from the place where it all started. Pearl Square is not just a physical space – it’s a symbol. It’s where the security forces first attacked us when we started protesting last year. It’s where we go to remind the authorities that we have not forgotten all their victims. [At least 35 people have been killed in violence related to protests in the past year. The government has also acknowledged that security forces used torture and excessive force against protesters who were detained]. But they refuse to let us go there – it’s become a red line for them. Until they let us into Pearl Square, there’s little hope that they will move toward becoming a democracy.”