Hand cuffed and flashing the 'V'-sign, Marwan Barghuti the leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank is flanked by Israeli policemen as he is led to a police vehicle 29 September 2003 on his way back to jail, after appearing before a Tel Aviv court. AFP
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 behaviour 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.
He often tops opinion polls of popular Palestinian leaders and is sometimes described 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 extremist minister's actions "may encourage violence against Palestinian detainees" and enable rights violations in Israeli prisons.
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