"If this happened in Tiananmen Square there would be an international outcry, but the RUC can do what they like on the Lower Ormeau and get away with it," said a community leader, Mr Gerard Rice.
He was speaking after police removed protesters from the road to allow an Apprentice Boys parade through on Saturday. There was widespread criticism of the RUC from nationalist politicians.
However, the RUC rejected the criticism as "outrageous" and said a minimum of force had been used. Police said 19 officers were hurt, mainly with bruising and broken teeth.
The Lower Ormeau Concerned Community group said 27 civilians were injured. Residents of the Lower Ormeau had remained on the road all night. The RUC moved into the area at about 5.30 a.m., when around 300 men and women were staging a sitdown protest on the road.
They included Sinn Fein councillors and other leading Belfast republicans. A convoy of armour-plated police Land-Rovers arrived in the area. RUC officers read statements asking those blocking the road to move. They refused.
The protesters were singing and holding hands when dozens of RUC men in full riot gear started to remove them forcibly. There was fierce resistance from many in the crowd. They kicked and spat at police, who retaliated.
However, some people who were not resisting police were also hit and kicked by RUC officers. "I was trying to get off the road and look after my friend. The next thing I knew I was knocked out by a cop. He had no reason to do that. Imagine hitting a woman," said one woman.
Police dragged men and women from the road by the hair and neck.
When the protesters attempted to link arms and hold their ground, they were struck with batons indiscriminately.
There was lengthy hand-to-hand fighting between police and civilians. Mr Rice and other community leaders urged demonstrators not to resist the RUC physically. Some complied but many refused.
There was considerable anger among the crowd.
"We shouldn't be fighting the RUC with our hands, we should be using guns. That's the only thing they understand," said one man.
"The peace process is a joke. Nothing has changed. The loyalists still get marching down the roads and we are beaten off our own streets," said a woman.
Mr Rice said he saw an RUC man smash a bottle on the road and then deliberately drag people over the bottle. Six observers from human rights groups in the Republic and Britain had filmed the police operation.
"We are not issuing propaganda about police actions. We have the evidence," said Mr Rice. "This video footage clearly shows the RUC's brutality."
He claimed that an observer from the Republic filming events was assaulted by police and sustained a broken nose. Many of the injured approached journalists to show their wounds. They sustained mainly head, back and chest injuries.
As the three-hour RUC operation continued, Mr Rice clambered on to a police Land-Rover and asked those protesters who remained on the road to move into side streets. Many objected. "We didn't come here and take all this to walk away now," one man shouted.
But eventually the protesters moved.
The RUC then sealed off the side streets with Land-Rovers to enable some Apprentice Boys to parade down the main road to the beat of a single drum. Residents jeered and chanted from behind police lines, and bottles and stones were thrown at the marchers.
It took just minutes for the march to pass in heavy rain. It was led by Mr Tommy Cheevers, who said: "I'm disappointed the way things turned out. It wasn't necessary. The police were piggy in the middle."
Supt Stephen Grange said residents had promised their protest would be peaceful and dignified. "It is clear that while many people did behave non-violently, others employed disgraceful violence in obstructing and assaulting police officers charged with carrying out a legally-binding ruling from the Parades Commission."
Mr Rice said blame lay with the RUC, not residents.
"I have been on many protests and I have seen a lot of police brutality but I never witnessed scenes like this before. I wanted a peaceful protest.
"I asked protesters not to resist police. I would never do that again. People have a right to defend themselves. I couldn't sleep in my bed at night if I thought I stopped people protecting themselves," he said.
The Parades Commission chairman, Mr Alastair Graham, was on the Ormeau Road to watch events. A local Catholic priest, Father Anthony Curran, voiced his criticism. "I told Alistair Graham that he should be ashamed of himself. The Parades Commission's decision has set back the peace process."