Ngawang Sangdrol (born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1977) is a former political prisoner, imprisoned by the Government of the People's Republic of China, for peacefully demonstrating against the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1992. Her sentence was extended repeatedly for continued protest in prison, which included recording a tape of freedom songs with 13 other nuns from Drapchi Prison that was smuggled out of Tibet.[1] As a result of intense international pressures from various Human Rights and Tibetan political organizations, as well as John Kamm, director of the Dui Hua Foundation, her sentence was commuted to 11 years from her original 23-year sentence. She was released in October 2002.[2] A documentary film by Marie Louville "Prisonnière à Lhassa" (The Prisoner of Lhasa) explains in detail the life and the release of Ngawang Sangdrol.[3]
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In 1994, Ngawang Sangdrol and 13 other nuns clandestinely recorded songs and poems in tribute to their homeland and the 14th Dalai Lama from inside Drapchi prison. The recording made it out of Tibet and the CD, "Seeing Nothing but the Sky" is available through the Free Tibet Campaign in London.