Political Prisoners Foundation vs Martyrs Foundation: which body handles your file?
The difference between the Political Prisoners Foundation and the Martyrs Foundation starts with one question: is the person who suffered the harm alive and applying for themselves, or were they martyred, with their family applying? The first body works under the Political Prisoners Foundation Law No. 4 of 2006 and its amendments; the second under the Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of 2016, amended by Law No. 23 of 2024. After that question the differences branch out: who is covered, who decides, how long each stage takes, and where to appeal.
Written by the Law Office of Ali Barakat Al-Taae in Baghdad, to be read alongside the page Political Prisoners Foundation and Martyrs Foundation.
Difference one: whose file it is
At the Political Prisoners Foundation, the file centres on the prisoner, detainee or held person themselves. Article 5 of its law defines the political prisoner (imprisoned under a court judgment), the political detainee (held without a judgment) and the Rafha detainees, and extends coverage to their foreign spouses and children. The family mainly comes in when the covered person dies and the salary passes to them.
At the Martyrs Foundation, the file centres on the martyr's family. The martyr is no longer present; the applicant is one of the parents, children, husband or wives, brothers and sisters, or the children of a son or daughter, as listed in Article 1, item 2.
An illustrative example with no real facts: a father was detained for two years and released; his son was martyred later. The father applies to the Political Prisoners Foundation for his detention. The son's family, including the father, applies to the Martyrs Foundation for the martyrdom. Two files, two laws, two committees.
Difference two: who falls under each law
The Political Prisoners Foundation Law is limited to political imprisonment and detention in two periods: 8/2/1963 to 18/11/1963, and 17/7/1968 to 8/4/2003.
The Martyrs Foundation Law is wider in time and categories. It covers victims of the former regime's crimes in the same two periods, then adds those who gave their lives fighting the ISIS terrorist organisation from 11/6/2014, then Peshmerga and security-force martyrs killed outside the Kurdistan Region (added by the 2024 amendment).
Neither law covers compensation for people injured in terrorist operations. That belongs to Law No. 20 of 2009 as amended and its committees, explained under Terrorism injury compensation.
Difference three: the deciding committee and the time limits
| Stage | Political Prisoners Foundation | Martyrs Foundation |
|---|---|---|
| Time for the first committee to decide | No period set in Article 10 | Three months from submission |
| First objection | Grievance to the Appeals Body within 30 days | Grievance to the same committee within 60 days |
| Silence on the objection | No special text | 90 days without a decision counts as rejection |
| Second objection | Administrative Judiciary Court within 30 days of notification | Appeals Committee chaired by a judge |
| Judicial stage | Administrative Judiciary Court judgment open to challenge under the law | Administrative Judiciary Court according to law |
At the Political Prisoners Foundation the deciding body is the "Special Committee", chaired by a law graduate with five years' experience who is himself covered, with a separate special committee for Rafha detainees. At the Martyrs Foundation it is the "Committee for Reviewing the Applications of Martyrs' Families", chaired by a legal employee from a martyr's family. See Challenging a non-coverage decision and A martyr's file.
Difference four: proof
Both laws put official documents first. The Political Prisoners Foundation Law is more detailed: it obliges the committee to exhaust official evidence and write to the relevant departments before accepting direct eyewitness testimony supported by circumstantial indications (Article 6, items 4 and 5). The Martyrs Foundation Law refers to official documents, then to other legal means of proof before the review committee or the Courts of First Instance (Article 5, item 3), and the committee applies the Civil Procedure and Evidence Laws (Article 9, item 4).
For disappeared persons, the 2024 amendment to the Martyrs Foundation Law accepts a presumptive death certificate issued by a court after 8/4/2003 as a case of martyrdom for those who received coverage decisions (Article 4, item 4).
Difference five: the form of the right
The right of someone covered by the Political Prisoners Foundation Law is a personal salary linked to their status and the length of imprisonment or detention, with land or its alternative, and study, employment and medical entitlements. The salary passes to the family equally on death (Article 22 as amended in 2025).
The right of a martyr's family is a pension calculated differently for a martyr who was a State employee and one who was not (Article 11, item 1), divided among the beneficiaries, with further rights in employment, housing and study. An employee from a martyr's family may continue in service to age sixty-eight by way of exception from the Unified Retirement Law (Article 20, item 6).
Difference six: affiliation and structure
The Political Prisoners Foundation is a public foundation with independent legal personality and financial independence, attached to the Prime Minister's Office (Article 1 of its law). Its structure includes a Department of Rights and Entitlements, a Department of Directorates and Special Committees, and branches in the Region and in the provinces. The 2025 amendment created the "Political Prisoners Welfare Fund" with its own legal personality, which funds projects and grants loans to covered persons.
The Martyrs Foundation is a body linked with the Council of Ministers, with legal personality and headquarters in Baghdad (Article 2). Its files are divided among departments by category: one for martyrs who were victims of the Baath Party's crimes, one for Popular Mobilisation martyrs, and one for martyrs who were victims of war operations, military errors and terrorist operations, alongside a department for mass graves and branches in the provinces.
That division explains why a person visiting the Martyrs Foundation is first asked about the martyr's category: the category decides which department handles the file.
Difference seven: reconsidering old decisions
At the Political Prisoners Foundation, Law No. 10 of 2025 added a "Reconsideration Committee" in paragraph (e) of item 5 of Article 7, to examine applications and reports about non-coverage decisions issued while Law No. 35 of 2013 was applied, with recommendations to the Foundation's head. The Foundation's instructions, as amended in 2026, require a request for reconsideration or cancellation of coverage to be decided within sixty days at most of filing.
At the Martyrs Foundation, item 9 of Article 9 empowers the review committee to reconsider its own decisions, decisions of earlier committees under this law or the repealed Law No. 3 of 2006, and court decisions, at the request of any person with an interest once the Foundation's head approves, where facts and supporting documents show the decision breached the law.
The two routes are similar in idea but differ in body and conditions, and the conditions of one should not be carried over to the other.
Can the two rights be held together?
The Martyrs Foundation Law answers this itself in Article 18, item 1, paragraph (t): those covered by it, by Law No. 20 of 2009 and by Law No. 4 of 2006 may combine the rights and entitlements set out in those laws. After 2025 the Political Prisoners Foundation Law contains a limit barring more than one entitlement for the same harm. See Combining entitlements across both foundations.
As a clear meeting point, Article 5, item 4 of the Martyrs Foundation Law treats children and minors of a martyr's family who were held with their relatives, or because of them, as political prisoners.
Questions worth answering before choosing the body
Before going to either foundation, these questions help organise the file:
- Whose event is it: the person themselves, or a relative who was martyred?
- When did it happen, and does it fall within the periods each law sets?
- Which official document is available: a judgment, an arrest order, a department record, a death certificate, a presumptive death certificate?
- Was an application made before? Was a decision issued? When was the person notified?
- Is there a second, separate event in the family that calls for another file?
The answer to question four in particular decides whether the route is a new application, a grievance within its time limit, or a request for reconsideration.
Where the common mistakes happen
- Filing a martyr's family application with the Political Prisoners Foundation because the martyr had been detained before being martyred. The detention is examined by the Political Prisoners Foundation; the martyrdom by the Martyrs Foundation.
- Counting the grievance period at the Martyrs Foundation as thirty days by analogy with the Political Prisoners Foundation, when the text sets sixty days before the review committee.
- Waiting indefinitely for the review committee to answer the grievance, when ninety days counts as rejection and opens the route to the Appeals Committee.
- Confusing a martyr's file under the Foundation's law with a compensation file under Law No. 20 of 2009, when the committees and criteria are different.
How the office approaches these questions
The office starts by identifying the event, whose it is and its date, then the competent body: the Political Prisoners Foundation or the Martyrs Foundation. Once a decision is issued, the time limit for a grievance or appeal is counted from the notification paper. Coverage and the measure of the right are read from the committee’s decision and from the text in force for the covered person’s status.
Legal basis and sources
- Political Prisoners Foundation Law No. 4 of 2006 and its amendments
- Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of 2016
- First Amendment to the Martyrs Foundation Law, Law No. 23 of 2024
- Second Amendment to the Political Prisoners Foundation Law, Law No. 10 of 2025
- Instructions No. 1 of 2026
- Political Prisoners Foundation
- Martyrs Foundation
Frequently asked questions
Are the Martyrs Foundation and the Political Prisoners Foundation one body?
No. Each has its own law, legal personality, head and committees.
A relative of mine was martyred and had been a political prisoner. Where do I go?
There may be two files: the imprisonment file at the Political Prisoners Foundation and the martyrdom file at the Martyrs Foundation, each with its own conditions.
Are terrorism victims handled by the Martyrs Foundation?
The Foundation has a department for victims of war operations, military errors and terrorist operations, but compensation for the injured and harmed runs under Law No. 20 of 2009 and its committees.
What is the appeal period for a Martyrs Foundation decision?
A grievance to the review committee within sixty days of notification, then the Appeals Committee, then the Administrative Judiciary Court.