Besmillah Besmil, Chairman:

Besmillah Besmil S/O Rohullah was born in Sheendand District of Herat Province. After earning a degree from the Herat Teacher Training Center , he continued his studies at the Education Faculty of Kabul University, where he graduated with distinction in 1969. He then passed the examination of UNSCO and joined the Kabul Teacher Training Center Education Faculty. With a UNSCO scholarship, Mr. Besmil went to India to complete his Masters in the field of Education and Chemistry. Upon his return to Afghanistan , he was appointed vice-chairman of the Kabul Teacher Training Center and Director of Education in Herat in 1978. During Taliban regime, he was dismissed from this post; he was reappointed following the departure of the regime. In April, 2004, he accepted appointment as the Minister of Aviation and Tourism. He relinquished this post in December 2004 to accept the position of Chairman with the Independent Election Commission.

General Ayob Asil, Vice Chairman:

General Ayob Asil was born in Paktia Province in 1943. He received his Masters degree in the field of Police and Justice from the Higher Studies Institute in Egypt in 1973. Mr. Ayob also studied criminal justice administration and human rights in Japan and France . He worked during Jihad as a Manager of Afghanistan Arabic magazine and Front English magazine, and with the Assistant Education Project of Nebraska in Peshawar , Pakistan . Mr. Ayob taught in the Justice Faculty of Kabul University , and served as Chief Director of Operations Against Narcotics. He speaks Dari, Pashto, Urdu, Arabic, French and English.

Mohammad Nazari , Member:

Mohammad Nzari S/O Eshan Qul was born in Jawzjan Province in 1961. As a journalist at the Publication Office of the Ministry of Culture and Information, Mr. Nazari began his studies at the Faculty of Journalism in 1982 and received his Masters degree in the field of Journalism from Tashkent Uzbekistan Governmental University . Upon his return to Afghanistan in 1991, he was appointed Manager of Turkman productions with Afghanistan Radio and Television; later this year, he joined the Journalism Faculty of Kabul University. During the onset of conflict, Mr. Nazari moved to Mazar-e-Sharif and continued his work as a lecturer in the Journalism Faculty of Baulkh University. He has worked as a field coordinator during the emergency Loya Jirga in Samangan Province and as a regional coordinator and counting manager of the Constitution Secretariat with the Constitutional Loya Jirga in the north. Mr. Nzari also served as a field coordinator during the Presidential elections.

Najla Ayobi, Member:

Najla Ayobi D/O Ayob Shah Ayobi was born in Parwan Province in 1969. She graduated with a Masters degree in Justice and Political Science from the Tajikistan Governmental Faculty. Ms. Ayobi has worked as a judge at the Afghanistan Court of Prosecution and in the court of Parwan Province. She has worked as the head of the committee scrutinizing the draft of constitution. Most recently, she served as a Public Outreach Officer with the Joint Electoral Management Body. Ms. Ayobi participated in numerous training courses in the country and out of the country. She speaks Dari, Pashto, English and Russian.

Mastora Estanikzai, Member:

Mastora Estanikzai D/O Senator Noor Ahmad Estanikzai was born in Esmail Khail Village in Logar Province in 1951. Ms. Estanikzai completed her degree in Education at Kabul University in 1975. She accepted a position as a teacher at Sorya High School and also worked as the Head of the Pashto department. She served as the Director of Sorya and Mahmood Tarzi High Schools . She immigrated to Iran and taught refugee children there. Ms. Mastora represented Iranian refugees as a delegate to the Constitutional Loya Jirga. Most recently, she has worked in the office of Primary Teaching at the Ministry of Education.

Abdul Hakim Murad , Member:

Abdul Hakim Murad was born in Aybak of Samangan Province in 1960. He completed a degree in agriculture in 1972 and received his Masters degree in Management from Preston University in Peshawar . His distinguished career includes five years with the Ministry of Agriculture and consultancies with various organizations including the Swedish Committee, ACBAR, and the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation. He has been working as the co-regional coordinator of Joint Electoral Management Body in Kabul since the beginning of this year. He speaks Uzbek, Dari, Pashto, English and Urdu.

Keshan Singh Honaryar, Member:

Keshan Seng (Honaryar) S/O Devram was born in Khust Province in 1950. He graduated from the Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Chemical Craft. Mr. Seng has worked in various posts within governmental administrations for 29 years including Head of Naghlo electricity dam, Chief of Naghlo electricity production, Chief of Mezar electricity, Chief of Ghoori cement factory in Polikhumri district of Baglan Province, Technical Deputy of Afghan knitting, Director of Planning at the Ministry of Commerce, Head of Administration at the Ministry of Mine and Industries. Most recently, he served as the Chief Advisor with theMinistry of Mine and Industries projects.

Samayullah Taza, Member:

Samayullah Taza S/O Taza Gul Khan was born in Bazachigal village, Wanet Waygl District of Nooristan Province. He is 52 years old. He received his diploma from the Faculty of Literature in the field of journalism in 1976. Upon completion of his studies, he joined the Ministry of Culture and Information as a journalist in the office of Bakhter Information Agency, where he worked for 13 years. By the request of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, he was appointed Deputy of that ministry in 1989. He became the Managing Editor of the Publication Pamir and in 1990 he was appointed General Manager of international radios of Bakhter Information. He worked as a coordinator at Afghan German Basic Training from 1999 until 2003. From June 2004 until November 2004, he assisted with preparations for the Presidential election. Most recently, he served as the head of Kunir and Nooristan field offices for MADIRA International.

Momina Yari, Member:

Momina Yari D/O Haji Sulyman Yari was born in Kabul in 1979. She received a degree in Justice from Peshawar University . Previously, she worked with the Department of Support and Development of Women Rights in Human Rights Independent Commission. She served as the Director of the Justice department at the Ministry of Women Affairs from May 2002 until March 2003. She was a delegate in Emergency Loya Jirga and the Constitutional Loya Jirga- having had the distinguished honor of being named the first woman to be appointed to work with committees of the constitution. She speaks Dari, Pashto, Urdu and English.

Noor Mohammad, Member:

Noor Mohammad has a rich background in electoral administration in India, the largest democracy in the world geographically and by population. Mohammad’s work has taken him across Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia where he has acted as an observer, conference participant, and now, a Commissioner for the Joint Electoral Management Body of Afghanistan.

He served as the Chief Electoral Officer (1994-2003) in the most populated state of India, and more recently (2003-2005), as the Deputy Election Commissioner of India where he implemented voter ID programs and the preparation of computerized voter lists, delimitation of constituencies, and international coordination with foreign agencies.

Mohammad has experience with the management and administration of all aspects of elections in 18 of the 35 states/union territories of India, including some of the most volatile states like Kashmir, and the insurgency infested northeastern states of the country.

Julian Type , Deputy Chairperson of the JEMB:

Julian Type holds a degree in Economics and Economic History at the University of New England , Armidale , Australia . He has 21 years of successful practice in electoral administration with the Australian Electoral Commission, electoral districting expertise from secondment to the Tasmanian Department of Justice and a strong foundation in electoral systems.

His international electoral experience includes periods in Cambodia (1993), Indonesia (1999), Timor L'Este (2001-02) and Afghanistan (2004-current).

Mr. Type lives in Elliott , Tasmania , Australia with his partner, Rees. They have four children and three grandchildren. Julian speaks English, and has basic French and Bahasa Indonesia.

Staffan Darnolf , Member:

Swedish, is an election administration specialist who has for more than a decade worked as an advisor to election authorities in post-conflict societies and emerging democracies such as Kosovo, the Baltic States, West and Southern African countries. He has also served as an election expert for the European Union and IFES in South Asia. He holds a Ph.D in Political Science from the Goteborg University, Sweden.

Rebecca Cox , Member:

Rebecca Cox is British, and she qualified as a lawyer in 1990. She has specialized in human rights and democratization in her work, which has mostly been overseas. Ms. Cox spent five years in Central America working on human rights, firstly with a Salvadoran NGO, and then with the UN mission in Guatemala that monitored compliance with the peace accords. She also worked for the Guatemalan Truth Commission that collected the testimonies of victims of the civil war.

Ms. Cox has participated in many election observation missions in different regions of the world. She has worked as a consultant on electoral and democratization issues. This includes working in 1999 with the Election Commission of Pakistan on a project to increase women’s political participation, and working in 2000 in Uganda with civil society groups on a project to monitor the legal aspects of the elections.

Most recently Ms. Cox was working in London with the Home Office (the Ministry that deals with criminal justice), providing legal advice to Ministers and officials on human rights issues, and working on various law reform projects.

Peter Erben (Chief Electoral Officer), Non-Voting Member:

Peter Erben is an international consultant specialising in the management of electoral projects in emerging democracies and is continuously engaged in key positions in major electoral processes.

In 2004 and 2005 Peter Erben was seconded to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) as the Director of the two Out-of-Country-Voting programs for the October 2004 Afghan Presidential election and for the January Iraqi National Assembly Elections. Since 2002 Mr. Erben remains engaged as the Senior Expert for the elections in the Palestinian territory.

From 1996 until 2000 Mr. Erben participated in the management of the first four post-conflict elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted by the OSCE. Immediately afterwards, in 2000 and 2001, Mr. Erben managed the first two elections in Kosovo for the OSCE, first as Associate Director, second as the Director of Elections.

In 2002 Mr. Erben coordinated the EU Observation Mission to the Presidential Elections in East Timor and later acted as the Senior Election Advisor to the Afghan Emergency Loya Jirga (Grand Council) Commission in Kabul.

During 2003 and 2004 Mr. Erben led several missions to Iraq assessing the electoral environment and planning for the electoral process. Throughout these missions he acted as the Senior Electoral Advisor to the Governing Council and to the Coalition Provisional Authority. Mr. Erben has also led a number of short-term electoral assessment and planning missions to countries such as Nepal and the Philippines.