Profile: Federal Commission of Integrity

Brief Analysis

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Iraq's Federal Commission on Integrity, taken over during a critical period by a Sudani-appointed Badr judge, has been used to block investigations of corruption undertaken by Coordination Framework factions.

Name: Federal Commission of Integrity (Nazaha), previously known as the Commission on Public Integrity (CPI).

Iraqi Commission on Integrity (Nazaha) logo

Type of movement:

“An independent body, subject to the oversight of the House of Representatives, with a legal personality and financial and administrative independence” tasked with “preventing and combating corruption, and adopting transparency in the management of governance at all levels”. Leadership now controlled by political blocs aligned with the Coordination Framework and muqawama (resistance) militias.

Role:

Executes the national strategic anti-corruption campaign alongside fellow independent commissions, the Board of Supreme Audit and the Inspector Generals' Office.
Investigation of corruption cases.
Follow-up corruption cases that the Authority's investigators do not investigate.
Developing a culture of transparency and accountability in public service and more broadly.
Preparing draft laws that contribute to preventing or combating corruption.
Encouraging officials to disclose their financial assets.

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Figure 1: Hayder Hanoun Zayer (right) on a Badr election poster with Hadi al-Ameri (left) in 2018.

History and objectives:

Established on January 31, 2004 by the Iraqi Governing Council, as authorized by the Coalition Provisional Authority Order 55, and then incorporated by Article 102 of the the 2005 Constitution of Iraq.
On November 13, 2022, the leadership of the commission was given to Badr Organization politician, Judge Haydar Hanoun Zayer after the former commission head of Judge Alaa Jawad Al-Saadi was invited to resign. In August 23, 2016, Judge Haydar had been removed from his roles on the Supreme Judicial Council and provincial appeals courts due to charges of "failure and corruption." He later joined the 2018 parliamentary political campaign of the Fateh Alliance (Figure 1), led by Badr leader Hadi al-Ameri and including Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH). Judge Haydar's appointment to the Federal Commission on Integrity was greeted with criticism because there is no official statement dismissing the charges against him by the Disciplinary Committee in charge of prosecuting judges at the Supreme Judicial Council. The only public defense of Judge Haydar was provided by Supreme Judicial Council chief justice Faiq Zaidan, who did not confirm that the charges had been resolved.
On November 18, 2022, Judge Haidar Hanoun, Nazaha’s president,announced the Nazaha's oversight of a Higher Commission for Combating Corruption, which is under the Prime Minister and Nazaha president, manned by the directors of the cases to be targeted by the government body as well as the departments charged with recovering the country’s stolen funds. The head of the Higher Commission is the National Security Service director Abu Ali al-Basri (real name Abda-Karim Abed Fadel), who has decades-spanning personal connections to Coordination Framework politicians and factions, including Badr.
On August 6, 2023, Nazaha issued warrants for the arrest of four senior officials in the previous government, including former Minister for Finance, Ali Allawi. Judge Haidar Hanoun said that Iraq would seek Interpol Red Notices and extradition of the suspects.
In the late summer of 2024, the FCI director, Judge Hayder Hanoun Zayer, fled to Erbil, Kurdistan Region, upon being investigated by the Iraqi judiciary, claiming that he was targeted in retaliation due to his own investigations into the judiciary.
On October 24, 2024, the FCI sacked its chief, Judge Hayder Hanoun Zayer. The new director was Mohammed Ali al-Lami.

Chain of command:

As an independent commission, Nazaha's president can be removed and replaced by the Prime Minister, for cause. Iraq's Prime Minister is Mohammed Shia al-Sudani—who was nominated to his post by the Coordination Framework (CF), the main muqawama political bloc and who the militias refer to as their "general manager" of the "militia government".
Since October 24, 2024, Nazaha is led by Mohammed Ali al-Lami, the longest-serving director general (DG) at the Commission. The prior director (from 2022-2024), Judge Hayder Hanoun Zayer, was removed by Sudani. Mohammed Ali al-Lami is another Badr-linked official who is close to Hadi al-Ameri's family, especially Hadi's son Mehdi. Mohammed Ali al-Lami previously worked as the DG for legal affairs and for extradition.

Hayder Hanoun Zayer and Badr leader Hadi al-Ameri — Figure 2: Badr leader Hadi al-Ameri (left) and former FCI director Hayder Hanoun Zayer (right) in 2019.

Affiliate relationships:

Badr Organization, due to the close relationship between the former Nazaha head Judge Hayder and Badr leader Hadi al-Ameri. Badr was a key player in the Heist of the Century, which Judge Hayder had been charged with investigating.
Broader Fatah Alliance factions, including Asaib Ahl al-Haq.

Subordinate elements:

The Higher Commission for Combating Corruption reports to both the Prime Minister and the Nazaha president. The head of the Higher Commission is the National Security Service director Abu Ali al-Basri (real name Abda-Karim Abed Fadel). In effect, the Higher Commission gives Nazaha an arrest and interrogation capability.

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Figure 3: Abu Ali al-Basri (left) and Faiq Zaidan (right) meet on August 8, 2023.