User:Drorona/Sandbox

Michael Orona

Michael Orona served as Deputy Director and later promoted to Office Director at the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) - Office of Asia and Western Hemisphere Affairs. His promotion as a bureau senior management officer was a rarity for members of the civil service. In this position, he oversaw the daily operations of the office, conducted strategic policy analysis and formulation, met with foreign government leaders, international NGO representatives, and briefed U.S. senior government officials on the coordination and promotion of human rights and democracy.

In 2006, Dr. Orona assisted in resuming the stalled bilateral human rights dialogue with the government of Vietnam. In 2002, the annual dialogue was suspended for lack of progress but since 2006, a number of political and human rights activists have been released and the government repealed "Detention Decree 31", which was once used to detain dissidents without rule of law.

Prior to his position as director, Dr. Orona served as a Foreign Affairs Officer with DRL where he was responsible for monitoring democracy and human rights issues in East, Central, and Southern Africa. In 2004, barred from entering Sudan, he led the State Department’s Atrocities Documentation Team that was dispatched by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner to investigate the violence taking place in Darfur by interviewing thousands of refugees along the Chad/Sudan border. The team’s findings led to the U.S. government’s determination of genocide. A 2005 article in Foreign Affairs magazine later called the project one of the most innovative government responses to investigating the violence in Darfur. From 2001 to 2002, Orona served at the U.S. Department of Labor as in International Relations Officer in the International Child Labor Program where he monitored global projects in Pakistan, India, El Salvador, including a $10 million project in Bangladesh - one of the largest at that time.

Prior to his government service, Dr. Orona worked as an Assistant Researcher on China Issues and Indigenous Rights at the Wellspring Institute for Integral Studies (WIIS). He is also a former visiting professor of foreign policy, international law and U.S.-Sino relations at the Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, China. He has published numerous articles, papers and given interviews on human rights and international issues for several publications including the Yale Political Quarterly, Sudan Tribune, Asia Times, BBC, and the Foreign Service Journal. In 2008, Dr. Orona wrote his first historical fiction short story entitled, "Los Bravos."

Dr. Orona has received two State Department Superior Honor Awards, a Meritorious Honor Award, and Benjamin Franklin Award for outstanding negotiations. He holds a J.D. in International Law and Ph.D. in International Development. He speaks Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish. He has travelled to over 40 countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. Dr. Orona is an avid triathlete and in his spare time competes in national and international triathlons. He is married with three children.

BBC Interview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/6102036.stm Asia Times "A Dangerous Continental Drift": http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/IB08Cb04.html "Lack of Fuel Sparks Crisis in Darfur" http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=7152 "It's Time to Win the Battle for Uganda's Children" http://www.afsa.org/fsj/2004.cfm "Making the Case for Genocide in Darfur," Stephen Kostas http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=S2a9bDb0qesC&oi=fnd&pg=PA111&dq=Michael+Orona+human+rights+&ots=PpPn09LUiv&sig=4-EhMpnSI6zjA1JSsWQm2oRyZLs#PPA119,M1