Applications before the Political Prisoners and Martyrs foundations
Political prisoner and detainee rights and entitlements
In briefRights under the Political Prisoners Foundation Law are graded by the covered person's status and the length of imprisonment or detention. They include a salary linked to the minimum retirement pension, a plot or its alternative, and study, employment and medical entitlements.
Rights under the Political Prisoners Foundation Law No. 4 of 2006 as amended are not granted as one package to every covered person. The text distinguishes between the political prisoner and the political detainee, between lengths of detention, and between male and female detainees. So the right question is not "what are political prisoners' privileges?" but "what does the text set for this status and this length of time?"
The amount of the salary 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.
The monthly salary: Article 17
Article 17 opens by stating that political prisoners and detainees are compensated for the restriction of their liberty and for lost earnings. It then grades the entitlement:
A political prisoner receives a monthly salary of at least three times the minimum retirement pension under the pension law in force, increased for each additional year of actual imprisonment under item 2.
A political detainee held for one year or more receives the rights of a political prisoner.
A detainee held for a shorter time receives a salary equal to the minimum pension or double it, depending on the length band; a detainee held for less than a month receives a one-off grant.
A female political detainee held for thirty days or more receives the rights of a political prisoner.
Rafha detainees receive the rights of a political detainee.
People sentenced in absentia in political cases who hold court decisions receive a salary equal to the minimum pension, together with a residential plot.
The National Pension Authority pays the amounts under this article (item 14).
Land and housing: Article 18
Item 1 of Article 18, as reworded by Law No. 10 of 2025, grants covered persons or their heirs a residential plot, a cash alternative, or a housing unit. It adds that receiving a plot under this law does not prevent benefiting from a plot or housing unit under other laws. Item 2 gives the right to choose among these options in line with the Foundation's instructions.
Study, employment and medical care: Article 19
Article 19 gathers several entitlements, the main ones being:
Places reserved in postgraduate study inside Iraq and in scholarships and fellowships, with the Foundation covering evening and private study fees.
Exemption from age, grade-average and service conditions for admission to government institutes and to undergraduate and postgraduate study.
Priority in public employment at a share of no less than 5% in State departments.
Medical expenses for covered persons and their families inside and outside Iraq under the Foundation's rules.
One-off repayment of certain bank loans, and travel costs under the conditions in the text.
Since 2025, a covered employee whose period of combining two salaries ends before retirement has a further right: on retirement, to choose between the retirement pension and returning to the salary granted by this law, from the request date and without retroactive effect (item 14).
Service and official records
Article 22 bis, added in 2025, sets two rules: the political acts that led to imprisonment or detention are not criminal records that bar employment or other rights; and seizure, disposal-ban and travel-ban marks placed for political reasons are lifted from the records of official departments.
What is not lost by receiving these rights
Article 21 provides that receiving rights under this law does not cancel a political prisoner's or detainee's right to claim other rights under the rules of civil or criminal liability or under other laws. It also exempts them from taxes and fees when completing real-estate registration of the property allocated to them, or the construction, loan or grant under this law.
Passing the right on after death
Paragraph (c) of item 5 of Article 22, as amended in 2025, provides that the salary passes to the covered person's family on death and is divided equally among them. Who are the family? Article 5 defines them: the spouse, first-degree relatives, and heirs under the sharia inheritance deed. How this salary combines with other salaries is explained in Combining entitlements across both foundations.
The text does not fix a figure. It links the salary to the minimum retirement pension and multiplies it by status and length of time, so the amount is read from that formula and from the minimum in force at the time of payment.
When does a political prisoner's salary stop?
The law passes the salary to the family after death, and withdraws rights in the cases of Article 6. Beyond that, the answer is read from the coverage decision itself and the combining rules.
Are university privileges for political prisoners' children set by law?
Article 19 speaks of "covered persons", and medical expenses expressly include "their families". Study privileges for children are read from the instructions and rules in force for each year.
Who pays the salary?
Item 14 of Article 17 makes the National Pension Authority responsible for paying the amounts under that article.
The office reads the coverage decision and what follows from it under Article 17 and the provisions connected with it, including the role of the National Pension Authority as the paying body.