Thursday Britain celebrated the return home of fifteen of its citizens, members of the British Navy, and Royal Marines.

The fifteen had been captured by Iran in what Iran says were Iranian waters, and in which Britain claims were Iraqi waters.

Nonetheless the fifteen British troops seemingly were treated with respect, humanely, and in good conditions. Iran and Britain, despite differences on another front, maintained a diplomatic, mutual respectful, dialogue that achieved a satisfactory outcome, particularly for Britain.

Conversely, on the other side of the world a similar situation has occurred which is completely the opposite to what has occurred with Iran. In this case Britain, seemingly, is looking the other way as a number of its residents have been effectively marooned.

UK resident from Kingston-on Thames, Bisher al-Rawi, has just been released from the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He is one of at least eight British residents held there for five years as 'enemy combatants.' These men are being held illegally, without charge or trial, and have either been subjected to or are at serious risk of torture and ill-treatment.

Now, in a stunning revelation it has been learned 80% of detainees at the US military prison at Guantanamo are being held in solitary confinement, often in harsh and inhumane conditions.

The news has come in a report published on Thursday by Amnesty International. The organization, as a result of its findings has called for an end to the routine use of extended solitary confinement by the US authorities and for independent medical experts to be allowed to examine the prisoners.

Amnesty International has long called for the entire camp to be closed, with plans for unfair 'military commission' trials to be abandoned. Last month the organisation published a 103-page report condemning the military commissions as a 'travesty of justice'.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said Thursday, 'The entire process at Guantanamo is a travesty of justice, but we have particular concerns over the widespread use of solitary confinement in harsh conditions at the camp.'

'With many prisoners already in despair at being held in indefinite detention on a remote island prison, some are dangerously close to full-blown mental and physical breakdown after years of solitary confinement.'

'The US authorities should immediately stop pushing people to the edge with extreme isolation techniques,' said Allen, 'and allow proper access for independent medical experts and human rights groups.'

There are approximately 385 men held at Guantanamo Bay and, after an apparent hardening of US operational detention policy in January, around 300 of these are now being held in three units with minimal contact with other prisoners or even prison guards. These units, known as Camp 5, Camp 6 and Camp Echo, are comparable to so-called 'super-max' high security units in the United States.

Unlike mainland super-max prisoners, however, Guantanamo detainees are held indefinitely as 'enemy combatants', face either no trial at all or an unfair one, have no family visits and no independent expert examinations.

One of the 300 detainees presently held in these conditions is UK resident Shaker Aamer, who has been kept in solitary confinement in Camp Echo for more than a year and a half. He is reportedly confined to a small (six-feet by eight-feet), windowless cell with no natural light or fresh air. He is allowed only minimal opportunity for exercise and, apart from a Quoran, has no possessions.

Mr Aamer, who has formerly acted as a camp negotiator and may be suffering harsh treatment as a consequence, was at one time denied any exercise outside of his cell for at least 64 consecutive days. He has also reportedly suffered beatings and harassment by camp guards, including having his clothes and mattress removed.

The Red Cross, the only independent monitoring organisation allowed to inspect the detention facilities at Guant namo, has described conditions at Camp Echo as 'extremely harsh'. Prisoners are kept in their windowless cells for 23 or 24 hours a day, and, in the absence of any natural light whatsoever, fluorescent lighting is kept on 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, Camp 6 has been described by one detainee as a 'dungeon above the ground'.

Amnesty International's new report is also part of a campaign to convince the UK authorities of the need to immediately press for the fair trial or safe release of at least seven remaining UK residents still held at Guantanamo.

These include 37-year-old old Brighton resident Omar Deghayes, who has been held at the prison camp for over four years after being detained without legal safeguards in Pakistan in 2002, before subsequent rendition to Afghanistan and Guantanamo.

Mr Deghayes, whose family are officially recognised refugees from Libya (having fled persecution under Colonel Gaddafi's regime), alleges that he has been tortured by US guards at Guantanamo. He has also told his lawyer that Libyan intelligence officers have been allowed to interrogate him in the camp, with one official allegedly threatening Mr Deghayes with death if he were ever returned to Libya.

Amnesty International believes that the UK government's refusal to help all of the UK residents is, 'untenable and unacceptable,' and that the UK is duty-bound to assist people resident in the UK, many of whom are refugees and have British nationals as family members.