Eleven inmates detained in the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay for up to 15 years will have the case for their release – the largest of its kind – heard in a US district court this week.

Attorneys for the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR) will argue a mass habeas corpus petition on behalf of the inmates in DC District court, demanding they either be tried or released. The inmates have been held without charge in the infamous American detention facility for years, in what their lawyers argue amounts to “perpetual detention for detention’s sake”.

Lawyers for the CCR and Reprieve, a human rights organisation that represents four of the detainees, filed the habeas corpus petition in January of this year, on the 16th anniversary of Guantánamo’s opening. The attorneys argued that the detention of the inmates without charge is unconstitutional, because any rationale for detaining them has long expired.

"Indefinite, potentially permanent detention without charge is not permitted under the US Constitution, and under international law," CCR attorney Pardiss Kebriaei told The Independent.

"Our point today is that – even assuming that there was a lawful basis for their initial detention for some period of time – is their indefinite detention today defensible?"

Arguments for eight of the petitioners will be heard on Wednesday by Thomas Hogan, a senior US district judge for the District of Columbia. Arguments for the three others will be heard in front of two more DC district court judges shortly.

A tale of two Guantanamos Show all 20 1 /20 A tale of two Guantanamos A tale of two Guantanamos Children play a game of football in the city of Guantanamo Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos Footballs inside a cell block at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A member of the US Army stands by an empty cell inside a prison in Guantanamo Bay Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A man sits outside a house waiting to join a parade during a local holiday in the city Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos Images of late Cuban revolutionary heroes Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos hang on a wall of a school in Guantanamo All photos Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos Clocks showing time in different capitals of the world hang at the base in Guantanamo Bay Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos Local residents play dominoes outside their homes Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A sample cell is displayed within Joint Task Force Guantanamo's Camp VI in Guantanamo Bay Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos Locals ride a bus in the city Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos An detainee walks along a cell block of a prison at the US naval base Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A woman rides a train in Guantanamo Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos An exit door where released detainees are turned over to the countries that have agreed to accept them at Guantanamo Bay Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A boy walks along train rails in the outskirts of the city Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A road near a prison in Guantanamo Bay Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos Sugar cane grows near the city of Guantanamo Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A buoy near the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A girl smiles as she takes a break during a soccer game under heavy rain in the city Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos A soldier smiles as he stands by an empty cell inside a prison at the naval base Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos Local residents wait in line to buy bread in the city Reuters A tale of two Guantanamos Magazines at a coffee shop in the US naval base Reuters

Ms Kebriaei said her team requested that the eight detainees in Wednesday's hearing be allowed to listen to the arguments live from Guantánamo, but were denied. The government said they did not have enough rooms or phones for the inmates to listen in separately, and detaining them together for the length of the arguments would pose too much of a risk.

One of the detainees named in the case is Towfiq Bihani, a Yemeni citizen who the US alleges was a member of al-Qaeda. He was detained at Guantánamo in 2003 but never charged with a crime. According to a Senate report, he was subjected to the the CIA’s post-9/11 “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which some have deemed torture. He was cleared for release in 2010 by six different US intelligence and defence agencies, but remains in Guantánamo today.

Also included in the petition is Sharqawi Al Hajj, a Yemeni national who the US alleges was a “senior al-Qaeda facilitator”. He has been detained at Guantánamo without charges since 2004. According to his attorneys, he suffers from recurring bouts of jaundice and weakness, and was hospitalised in 2016 after collapsing in his cell. He has been denied release multiple times because a government review board deemed him too dangerous for release.

Donald Trump pledges to keep Guantanamo Bay open at the State of the Union

The detention facility at Guantánamo Bay was established in 2002, to hold detainees in the US “war on terror” in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. At the time, the US argued detainees were “enemy combatants” who were not being held on US soil, and thus not subject to the protection of the Constitution. The facility has since been condemned by international governments and human rights groups for the indefinite detention and torture of prisoners.