The Law Office of Ali Barakat Al-Taae in Baghdad follows eligibility and objection files before the Political Prisoners Foundation (Mu'assasat al-Sujana' al-Siyasiyin) and the Martyrs Foundation (Mu'assasat al-Shuhada'). They are two separate bodies, each with its own law: the Political Prisoners Foundation Law No. 4 of 2006 and its amendments, and the Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of 2016, amended by Law No. 23 of 2024. The first question in any file is simple: was the applicant personally imprisoned, detained or held, or is the applicant a relative of someone who was martyred? The answer decides the body, the committee, the time limits and the appeal route.
The Political Prisoners Foundation was established by Article 1 of Law No. 4 of 2006. It is a public foundation with independent legal personality and financial independence, attached to the Prime Minister's Office. The law has been amended twice: by Law No. 35 of 2013 (the First Amendment) and by Law No. 10 of 2025 (the Second Amendment), which appeared in issue 4841 of the Al-Waqa'i Al-Iraqiya gazette dated 22/9/2025.
The Martyrs Foundation exists under Article 2 of Law No. 2 of 2016. It is linked with the Council of Ministers and based in Baghdad. That law repealed the earlier Martyrs Foundation Law No. 3 of 2006 (Article 23) and was later amended by Law No. 23 of 2024.
The first body deals with people who were themselves imprisoned, detained or held. The second deals with applications from the families of those who were martyred. One family can therefore have two different files: a father who was detained and released alive applies to the Political Prisoners Foundation, while the family of a brother who was martyred applies to the Martyrs Foundation. The article Political Prisoners Foundation vs Martyrs Foundation explains this difference in detail.
Article 5, as amended, sets out three categories: the political prisoner, the political detainee, and the Rafha detainees, together with their foreign spouses and children. Coverage is limited to two periods: 8/2/1963 to 18/11/1963, provided the person has no criminal record, and 17/7/1968 to 8/4/2003.
The "family" (dhawu) of a prisoner, detainee or held person, under paragraph (g) of item 2 of Article 5, means the spouse, first-degree relatives and heirs according to the sharia inheritance deed (al-qassam al-shar'i). Article 6 excludes certain groups from coverage and withdraws rights from anyone convicted under Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005. See Who is covered by the Political Prisoners Foundation Law.
Proof is the heart of the file. Item 4 of Article 6 starts with written evidence recognised by law, including entries in the official records of State departments, schools, institutes and colleges for anyone who was an employee, a student or in public service at the time. Once that evidence is exhausted, direct eyewitness testimony supported by circumstantial indications may be used, or recourse may be had to Evidence Law No. 107 of 1979. Item 5 obliges the Special Committee to exhaust official evidence and write to the relevant departments before turning to other means.
The Special Committee is chaired by a law graduate with at least five years' experience, and includes representatives of the Ministries of Finance and Interior and two political prisoners who are not State employees (Article 7, item 5, paragraph (a)). Rafha detainees' applications go to a separate special committee. See Proving imprisonment or detention before the Special Committee.
Article 17 links the monthly salary of a covered person to the minimum retirement pension under the pension law in force, and scales it by the length of imprisonment or detention and by category; the National Pension Authority makes the payment. Article 18 provides a residential plot, a cash alternative or a housing unit. Article 19 covers study places and exemption from age and grade conditions for admission, priority in public employment, medical expenses and more. One practically important item is that the Foundation must accept applications from covered persons without any time limit (Article 19, item 12).
The amount is tied in the text to the minimum retirement pension, and it changes when that minimum changes and according to the covered person's status and length of time. See Political prisoner rights and entitlements.
Article 10 sets the route. A grievance against the Special Committee's decision is lodged with the Appeals Body (Hay'at al-Ta'n) within thirty days of learning of the decision or being deemed notified. Anyone whose appeal the Appeals Body rejects may go to the Administrative Judiciary Court within thirty days after being notified of the result, and its judgment may be challenged in cassation before the Supreme Administrative Court within thirty days of notification. The Appeals Body is chaired by a judge whom the Supreme Judicial Council nominates.
The Second Amendment of 2025 added a "Reconsideration Committee" to Article 7. It examines applications and reports concerning non-coverage decisions issued while Law No. 35 of 2013 was being applied. See Challenging a non-coverage decision.
Article 1 of the Martyrs Foundation Law defines the martyr in three categories: a person who lost their life as a result of the former regime's crimes as listed in the text; a person who gave their life fighting the ISIS terrorist organisation from 11/6/2014, under the conditions of paragraph (b); and Peshmerga and security-force martyrs killed in areas outside the Kurdistan Region (added by the 2024 amendment).
The martyr's family, under item 2 of the same article, means the parents and children; the husband and wives, even if not Iraqi; the brothers and sisters; and the children of a son or of a daughter. The order of entitlement among them is read from the rights articles, not from the definition alone. See Who is a martyr and who are the martyr's family.
The "Committee for Reviewing the Applications of Martyrs' Families" in Baghdad and the provinces examines the application within three months of its submission and applies Civil Procedure Law No. 83 of 1969 and Evidence Law No. 107 of 1979 (Article 9). An applicant who is refused files a grievance with the same committee within sixty days of notification, then appeals to the Appeals Committee chaired by a judge; if the grievance is not decided within ninety days, it is treated as rejected. The Appeals Committee's decision can be contested before the Administrative Judiciary Court according to law.
The 2024 amendment also accepts a presumptive death certificate (hujjat wafat) issued by a court after 8/4/2003 as a case of martyrdom for those who received coverage decisions from the review committee (Article 4, item 4). See A martyr's file: the committee, the grievance and the Appeals Committee.
Paragraph (t) of item 1 of Article 18 of the Martyrs Foundation Law gives those covered by it, by Law No. 20 of 2009 as amended and by Law No. 4 of 2006 as amended the right to combine the rights and entitlements set out in those laws. On the other side, item 15 of Article 19 of the Political Prisoners Foundation Law, added in 2025, bars a beneficiary from receiving more than one entitlement for the same harm or the same reasons, in the context of covering political prisoners and detainees in the Kurdistan Region. How the two texts read together is explained in Combining entitlements across both foundations.
| Stage | Political Prisoners Foundation | Martyrs Foundation |
|---|---|---|
| Applying for coverage | No time limit (Article 19, item 12) | The committee examines the application within three months (Article 9, item 2) |
| Grievance against a refusal | To the Appeals Body within 30 days of knowledge or deemed notification (Article 10, item 3) | To the same review committee within 60 days of notification (Article 9, item 5) |
| No answer to the grievance | No equivalent text in Article 10 | 90 days without a decision counts as rejection (Article 9, item 6) |
| Judicial route | Administrative Judiciary Court within 30 days of notification of the appeal result (Article 10, item 4) | Administrative Judiciary Court according to law, after the Appeals Committee decision (Article 9, item 8) |
Time runs from the notification date or knowledge as the text states, not from the day the decision was issued. That is why the first document the office asks for in any refused file is proof of the notification date.
The office starts by reading the papers: the committee's decision if one has been issued, the notification date, the official evidence or testimony submitted, and the family relationship as proved by the sharia inheritance deed or the death certificate. It then identifies the body and the time left for a grievance or appeal. 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.
Item 12 of Article 19 obliges the Foundation to accept applications from covered persons without being bound by a time period. Grievances and appeals against a decision, once issued, have their own time limits in Article 10.
The Martyrs Foundation Law does not use the phrase "first degree" in its definition; it lists the martyr's family in Article 1, item 2. The Political Prisoners Foundation Law, by contrast, mentions "first-degree relatives" among a prisoner's family in Article 5.
Yes. After a grievance before the review committee and an appeal to the Appeals Committee, the Appeals Committee's decision can be contested before the Administrative Judiciary Court according to law (Article 9, item 8).
Paragraph (c) of item 5 of Article 22,, amended by Law No. 10 of 2025, provides that the salary passes to the covered person's family on death and is divided equally among them.
Compensation for the injured runs under Law No. 20 of 2009 and its committees, which are linked to a department within the Martyrs Foundation dealing with victims of war operations, military errors and terrorist operations. The route is therefore different from a martyr's family file under the Foundation's own law.
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