They also issued a warning that any attempts to flout the law lords and devise new methods of detaining suspects without charge or trial would fail.

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of the human rights group Liberty, said that the Government had to act without delay after the law lords ruled that indefinite detention without trial contravened human rights laws.

Ms Chakrabarti said: “Internment has been a festering sore on our nation’s conscience for nearly three years. By acting as judge, jury and jailer the Government has flouted the very values it claims to defend. It must now act and charge or release all those currently held without delay.”

She added: “To flout such a clear ruling from the House of Lords would be something approaching a constitutional crisis, but I do not believe that will happen. I just do not believe that they (the Government) would be so foolish as to flout the clear and unequivocal advice of the highest court in the land.”

Gareth Peirce, the solicitor who represents eight of the detainees, said that the Government risked a constitutional crisis if it chose to ignore the law lords’ decision. She also said that detention had driven four of the detainees to madness and that a further four had had their mental health seriously affected.

Ms Peirce said that the detainees would look to the European Court of Human Rights if there were no swift response to the law lords’ ruling. “The Government has to take steps to withdraw the legislation and release the detainees,” she said.

“The ball is now firmly in their court. We would expect the Government to respond immediately and we look forward to that. There is no escape route for the Government, no escape route whatsoever.”

Asked what the reaction of the detainees would be to yesterday’s ruling, Ms Peirce said: “I think it is important to understand that they have completely lost hope and totally lost faith and had believed that they would be in detention forever.

“The indeterminate nature of their detention has forced four of them into madness. There are four more who are seriously affected by this. It is an extraordinary statistic.”

David Pannick, QC, who acted for Liberty in the challenge before the law lords, cautioned against any further moves to retain detention without trial. “The new Home Secretary should recognise that we cannot defend our society against terrorist threats by abandoning the human rights which make our society worth defending,” he said.

“Any attempt by the Home Secretary to rewrite the law on detention without trial would inevitably lead to further legal defeats.”

Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK, welcomed the ruling. “Morally, legally, a very clear message has been sent to the Government,” she said. “We look now to the new Home Secretary to respond to ensure that the human rights of these people are upheld. The ball is firmly in the Government’s court.”

The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture also welcomed the ruling. “The foundation has long been concerned about the damaging mental health consequences of indefinite detention without trial. It believes that the nature of detention under the post-9/11 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 is particularly likely to cause long-term psychological problems,” the foundation said.

Sherman Carroll, a spokesman for the foundation, said: “All prisoners held under anti-terrorism legislation should either be released or brought to trial. Mechanisms should also be put in place to identify those detainees who have previously been subject to torture in other countries.

“This group is at increased risk of mental ill-health, and measures should be taken to protect their health. This would include access to appropriate treatment.”

Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: “This ruling is the final nail in the coffin of this draconian piece of legislation, under which the lives of 17 innocent people and their families have been mercilessly destroyed.

“IHRC demands that the British Government act upon the ruling immediately and free all of the detainees without delay. IHRC further urges the Government to immediately repeal current anti-terrorism legislation.

“Let us hope that this decision, together with the resignation of David Blunkett, signals a new era of human rights and civil liberties in Britain, in which Muslims are not singled out and demonised on the basis of their faith.”

Iqbal Sacranie, the secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “We accept that our Government has an obligation to protect the lives of its citizens, but it also has an obligation to respect their liberties and freedoms.”

He added: “If these men have done or were planning something as serious as we have been led to believe then they should be charged and brought to trial. If not, they should be released without delay and given medical attention.

“Some of them have already been detained for almost three years now without trial and we are deeply concerned about their health and mental state.”

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