I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. Because of my appeal to the government, I was detained for 46 days at my local police station. I was put in cell #2-7 in Tongzhou District Detention Center from February 5 to March 21. Once I was transferred there on February 5, I was searched. During the search the police intentionally tore my clothes to pieces. The head prisoner shouted filthy curses at me continuously. The next morning, the prisoner who was second in charge taught us the rules of the center (since I was brought in at night, what I was taught were the rules illegally set up by Tongzhou District Detention Center).

These are the rules and punishments as I learned them:

1. Flying (the head facing down, with the head and the back against the wall, and the hands raised up against the wall). At the same time, we were not allowed to touch other persons' basins, water buckets, or water faucets. Any violation will result in punishments of "flying" and being beaten. They could make you "fly" as long as they like and had the right to beat you with a board as many times as they wanted.

2. Squatting (holding the hands and arms horizontal, squatting with the legs bent halfway down). At the same time, anyone could scold and command us. We were not allowed to explain or talk back. We must always say thank-you. Furthermore, we were drenched with ten basins of cold water. We must say thank-you whenever we were beaten, scolded, physically abused, or showered with cold water. Any disobedience would result in punishment and beating.

3. Beating (Beating the buttocks with the sole of a plastic shoe at least 10 times). This also happened while being showered with cold water (the temperature at that time was 4 to 14° C below zero Celsius).

4. When we were called by our name, we had to hold our head with both hands and arms. We had to lower our heads when we left or entered a room; otherwise, the head prisoner would kick us.

5. Whenever a new prisoner was brought in, he or she had to memorize the detention center rules and regulations (stipulated by the Beijing Police Station), behavior guidelines, the twenty restrictions, and the eleven types of regulations. There were a total of 100 titles. Even a one-word mistake would result in punishment. Whoever could not fully recite the 100 titles was not allowed to talk or read books or magazines. We were punished whenever we disobeyed anything.

The prisoner who was second in charge said at the end: "There were even more rules here. These are only some of them". These were not called "beatings" or "physical punishment". They were simply called "rules".

During my 46 days of detention, the head prisoner and the second in charge verbally abused me every day. In the detention center, I was beaten five times, the worst of which was 60 consecutive beatings. My buttocks have been blackish purple for more than a month. I was forced to "fly" five times with the longest being 20 minutes. Outside my cell (in the hallway), I was ordered by the policeman to stand; the leader of the detention center, Hao Wenqing, grabbed my hair, kicked my feet, and pushed my head down. Another time, there were five policemen and several prisoners in the hallway. I tried to leave my cell, but before I was able to cross the doorway, someone (a stout labor prisoner who is called "the chief" by other prisoners) suddenly grabbed my hair and pulled me out of the cell. Before I could get to my feet, I was slapped in the face and knocked to the ground. The policeman also kicked me once. They forced me to "fly" for about 20 minutes. And another time, the leader of the center came in person and ordered nine of us "fly" in the hallway. During this "flying", he ordered about a dozen male prisoners to hold our hands up. I was forced to "fly" for more than a half hour. During the whole process, the policemen came back and forth to monitor our punishment, and kept kicking and cursing us.

There are monitors inside the cells, so the policemen know everything that occurs inside the cell. However, they turned a blind eye to everything. Everyday, the leader of the center called the leading prisoner over and taught him tactics. The leading prisoner came back looking like he had all the authority in the world and felt that he was backed by his superiors and had nothing to worry about. He yelled, verbally abused and beat us without restraint. The leading prisoner said that beating us was not what he wanted and that he did it only to comply with the rules of the center. The leading prisoner said beating us was his job since he was a prisoner too, and he had to follow the orders.

During this period of 46 days, I felt I had been to hell. It was really a nightmare.

I want to sue Tongzhou District Detention Center for:

1. The rules of punishment they set up illegally;

2. The beatings I suffered from the leader of the detention center;

3. The beatings I suffered from the policemen there;

4. The officials ordering prisoners to beat others.

We live in a country that is supposed to be ruled by law. It is against the law for policeman to beat people. Why can Tongzhou District Detention Center act above the law? Why can't we see the "blue sky" of law in Tongzhou District Detention Center? I demand that you investigate the crimes committed by Tongzhou District Detention Center leaders and other assailants and bring them to court. I wish to get a satisfactory reply.