The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) yesterday (August 30, 2026) approached the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Deputy President of the Supreme Court Sohlberg, demanding that he halt the unlawful election propaganda being conducted at the expense of Palestinian prisoners classified as “security prisoners.”

PCATI is demanding that the Chairman of the Elections Committee order the removal of the videos in question, clarify the absolute prohibition on this kind of degrading exploitation, and consider fining the offenders in this case — and in any future ones — as well as advancing criminal proceedings against them as provided by law.
The appeal follows a widely covered visit by the Minister of Internal Security to Damon Prison, where the Palestinian women prisoners classified as “security prisoners” are held. During the visit, the prisoners were forced to stand before the minister, and when they described some of their harsh detention conditions, they were met with blatant contempt and with the minister’s on-camera promises that he would continue to lower their detention conditions to “the bare minimum of the minimum.”
PCATI represents a number of prisoners at Damon regarding their detention conditions. In a letter to the Chairman of the Elections Committee, the head of PCATI’s Legal Department stated that filming the video for propaganda purposes and its deliberate publication by the minister on social media and in the press constitute unlawful election propaganda — including under precedents established by the Elections Committee itself; that the instrumental use of the prisoners and the violation of their dignity and privacy inherent in the coerced appearance constitute a breach of the Geneva Conventions and may even amount to a war crime; and that the public contempt shown toward their hardships and detention conditions may constitute an improper attempt to influence the proceedings concerning them, and may serve to intimidate them or their family members.
The committee demands that the chairman of the Elections Committee order the removal of the relevant video posts, clarify the complete prohibition on such vile exploitation, and consider fining the perpetrators in this case and those who follow, however they may be, and even initiate criminal proceedings against them as provided by law.
Read the letter