Mike Farrell is an actor, producer, writer and director. A political and social activist, he became involved with Human Rights Watch in the early '80s when his work with CONCERN/America, an international refugee aid and development organization, brought him face to face with the effects of U.S. involvement in Central America. Human rights and refugee aid issues have taken him, since the late '70s, to Southeast Asia, Central and South America, the (then) Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and into many prisons across the United States. Currently co-chair of Human Rights Watch/California, he also serves as chair of Death Penalty Focus, spokesperson for CONCERN/America, and Good Will Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In February of 1998 he was appointed to a four year term as a member of California's Commission on Judicial Performance.