Rigzin (Rinzin) Choenyi was a 19-year-old Tibetan Buddhist nun from Shungseb Nunnery in Lhasa when she was arrested on 22 September 1989 for participating in a peaceful demonstration at the Barkor pilgrimage circuit with five other nuns. The group called for Tibetan independence by chanting pro-independence slogans during the period of martial law in Lhasa. In October 1989, she was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for allegedly violating martial law regulations and was detained in Drapchi Prison. During her imprisonment, she shared a cell with prominent political prisoners Phuntsok Nyidron and Ngawang Sangdrol. She was released in September 1995 and later reached Dharamsala, India, where she provided detailed testimony documenting torture, ill-treatment, and prison conditions experienced by Tibetan political prisoners. Amnesty International recognized her as a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of her political beliefs.