High Court judges have been told there was now "compelling evidence" Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Deghayes and two other British residents had been severely tortured and suffered inhuman and degrading treatment.

Timothy Otty, appearing for the three detainees, said the men also remained exposed to a "real risk" of further ill treatment at the detention facility in Cuba.

He also described the "distress" the families of the men were having to endure.

The Argus has been campaigning for justice for Mr Deghayes, from Saltdean, calling for him to either be brought to trial or released.

Yesterday, Mr Otty was asking Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Tugendhat, sitting in London, to declare "legally unsustainable" a refusal by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to petition for the release of Mr Deghayes and two fellow detainees.

The Government has maintained that, as foreign nationals, Bisher al-Rawi, Jamil el-Banna and Mr Deghayes have no legal right to the assistance they seek.

But Mr Otty said that it had become clear yesterday morning that, at least in the case of Mr al-Rawi, "it has now been conceded that the Foreign Secretary will be making representations" because of the particular circumstances of his case.

Christopher Greenwood, QC, appearing for the Foreign Secretary, told the judges that the Government was "attaching considerable weight" to a denial by the US that torture or inhuman treatment had taken place at Guantanamo Bay.

The British Government itself did not have independent evidence of what was happening and would "certainly not accept that there was compelling evidence that the men have been tortured".

Mr Otty asserted there was compelling evidence before the court.

He added: "The suffering with which this case is concerned is not limited to the detainee claimants. Family members, who are British citizens as well as residents in the country are experiencing the most intense distress."

Mr Deghayes and the two other detainees in yesterday's case are all long-term residents of the UK, although not British citizens.

Mr Deghayes was detained in Pakistan. His name was said to be on the FBI's "most wanted" list.

But his legal team says the photograph in his file was of a "totally different individual".

His lawyers maintain that Mr Deghayes has been rendered virtually blind in one eye by the use of pepper spray and the gouging of his eye during his detention, yet was still being constantly subjected to high light levels.

Mr Otty told the judges: "The situation at Guantanamo Bay has been roundly condemned even before the allegations of torture and the wealth of material supporting those allegations entered the public domain."

More than two years ago Lord Steyn, a member of the House of Lords judicial committee, had condemned the "utter lawlessness at Guantanamo Bay", where people were being detained indefinitely without trial. The unprecedented nature of the detentions had been condemned by United Nations rapporteurs, who had concluded that techniques authorised for use there might amount to torture.

Excessive violence was used in many cases by what was known as the "immediate reaction force" at the base, said Mr Otty.

Mal-Rawi, 37, an Iraqi national who had lived in Britain since 1985, and his Jordanian business partner Mr el-Banna, who was granted refugee status in 2000, were detained three years ago in Gambia.

They were alleged to have been associated with al-Qaida through their connection with the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada.

The latest Foreign Office witness statement, issued last week, suggested that considerations of national security were in play, and that given the "ongoing sensitive nature of the discussions in relation to Guantanamo Bay as a whole" it would be both "ineffective and counter-productive to make individual requests".

Mr Otty told the judges the case deserved "a high degree of scrutiny" by the courts.

"In this context it is our contention that the (Foreign Secretary's) refusal to make a request is legally unsustainable."

The British residents had a legitimate expectation that a request to the Americans would be made and the failure to do so amounted to "an abuse of power".

It also amounted to unlawful racial discrimination contrary to common law, international law and the Race Relations Act.

It also breached the right of the men's families to respect for their family and private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mr Otty said: "The only lawful and rational course open on a proper consideration of the relevant facts is to make the request sought."

Mr Otty said all the families of the detainees were "experiencing very severe suffering as a result of the situation".

It was of a level which amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. Mr Otty said: "We contend that if we are correct that it is either reasonably possible or probable that a simple step on the part of the UK could bring that suffering to an end at a single blow, then causation is made out."

The evidence showed the families were unable to look to any government other than that of the UK "for the protection of their interests".

The hearing continues today.