UN condemns Israeli minister for taunting Palestinian prisoner
National security minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a video on Friday last week showing him confronting Marwan Barghouti, the most high-profile Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody.
UN Human Rights Office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said the footage was unacceptable, adding: 'The minister's behavior and the publication of the footage constitute an attack on Barghouti's dignity.'
Barghouti, now in his sixties, was sentenced in 2004 to life in prison on murder charges.
Regarded as a terrorist by Israel, he often tops opinion polls of popular Palestinian leaders and is sometimes described by his supporters as the 'Palestinian Mandela.'
'International law requires that all those in detention be treated humanely, with dignity, and their human rights respected and protected,' said Kheetan.
He warned that the minister's actions 'may encourage violence against Palestinian detainees' and enable rights violations in Israeli prisons.
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