Ngawang Pemo, a 26-year-old nun from Toelung, Lhasa, participated in a protest during the Lhasa Monlam Chenmo in 1988 and was arrested by the Chinese army. She was detained at Gutsa Detention Centre, where she was interrogated and tortured, including through electric shocks.

On 11 October 1989, Ngawang Pemo and ten other nuns took part in celebrations marking the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They were subsequently arrested and tortured. Two of the nuns, Gyaltsen Wangmo and Tsetan, were sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for organizing the celebration.

Ngawang Pemo departed Lhasa on 9 April 1990 and reached exile in India on 13 August 1990.