Our People

CEO

Elizabeth Wood is CPJP’s Chief Executive Officer. She joined CPJP in 2022, having worked for the Victorian Public Service for the past 10 years, most recently in alcohol and drug policy as part of the reforms delivering on the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. During her time in the public service, Elizabeth also worked on other social policy areas including housing, homelessness, family violence and prison oversight. Before this, Elizabeth worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh and has experience in journalism and film-making.

Elizabeth has a Master of Laws (Juris Doctor) from Monash University, where she participated in the inaugural offering of the Anti-Death Penalty Clinic run by Eleos Justice and remained involved as a volunteer with Eleos Justice and CPJP since that time. She also has a Master of Global Media Communication (with a focus on international development) from the University of Melbourne. At RMIT University, she completed a Graduate Diploma in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts (Media Studies), where she achieved first class honours for her thesis on human trafficking.

Elizabeth has an enduring commitment to human rights and social justice and is proud to be working towards the abolition of the death penalty with such dedicated partners and volunteers.

Consultant

Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman (widely known as Zaman Ashraf) is a Bangladeshi human rights defender, who has been exiled in Hong Kong since the personal security situation in Bangladesh deteriorated due to a well-documented crackdown on dissidents and human rights defenders.

Zaman is active in advocating for the rights of survivors of torture, and victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. This includes seeking stronger legal protections for survivors and pursuing mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable, in compliance with international law.

Zaman has worked extensively with the United Nations’ human rights mechanisms in his capacity as the main representative of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), an NGO with general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. Zaman has made numerous speeches in the UN Human Rights Council on Bangladesh and other countries in Asia. From 2005 to 2023, Zaman led the Bangladesh Country Desk at the Asian Human Rights Commission, a sister organisation of the ALRC.

Zaman has authored many reports and publications on Bangladesh and the South Asian region, focusing on the issues of dysfunctional justice institutions and the importance of implementing strong rule of law systems in democratised states.

Zaman is on X (formerly Twitter) @ZamanAshraf.