SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot of families and activists holding news conference outside US Supreme Court

2. Cutaway of press

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"In one letter, he wrote 'I do not know what crime I am supposed to have committed for which not only I, but my wife and children continuously suffer. As a result, I'm in a state of depression and beginning to lose the fight against depression and hopelessness."

4. Wide shot of Azmat Begg speaking

5. Cutaway of press

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"He has been held captive for more than two years and in all this time he has never been charged and tried. I do not ask for mercy, I ask for justice. Before mercy comes justice and my son has been denied justice."

7. Cutaway of press at news conference

8. SOUNDBITE: (German) Rabiye Kurnaz, Mother of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"I want due process and justice for him and I want to see him. If it was possible, I'd want to bring him home, but I know that's not possible. I know he's not doing well. The way they're treating the detainees is against humanity."

9. Cutaway of cameras

10. Wide shot of Terry Waite, former hostage in Lebanon, speaking at podium in front of Supreme Court

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Terry Waite, former hostage in Lebanon:

"We are here today because we believe there has been a major breech of human rights. Perhaps it was done with good intentions, but the consequences will be disastrous - disastrous for the United States and disastrous for all our freedoms."

12. Cutaway of cameras

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vanessa Redgrave, Actress, Founder of Guantanamo Human Rights Commission:

"You must have international human rights law and national law in which those international human rights are embodied. And that's why we're here, because this has been denied to the detainees, both in Guantanamo and other places that we've heard about like the British-American base of Diego Garcia. If there are no rights, then what do you have? Some call it an interrogation camp. I'm afraid I have to say I consider it to be a concentration camp."

14. Wide shot of families and press in front of the Supreme Court

STORYLINE:

Family members of some of the detainees being held in Guantanamo Bay were in Washington, Monday, seeking what they say are the basic rights their relatives are being denied.

The European family members of three terror suspects held at the US Navy base in Cuba urged President George W. Bush to release the prisoners for trial in their home countries, saying the indefinite detainment is taking a toll on their mental health.

At a press conference in front of the US Supreme Court, Azmat Begg read a letter from his son, Moazzam Begg, one of the estimated 640 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

In the letter, Moazzam Begg said that he has never been told of the crime for which he is being held.

Azmat Begg who came from England to pursue due process rights for his son, said that he was not asking for mercy for his son but simply justice, a sentiment reflected in a letter that he has written to Bush

Rabiye Kurnaz, the mother of another detainee, said that she is worried about the health and mental state of her son who has been held at Guantanamo for more than two years.

Kurnaz, who lives in Germany, said that she hasn't spoken with her son since he has been detained. But she fears, he is not doing well.

Human rights organisations have called on the United States to release the prisoners or at least say what is planned for them.

The groups say that the indefinite detentions have led to a deterioration in mental health and dozens of suicide attempts at the prison, set up shortly after the start of the war in Afghanistan in October 2001.

Terry Waite, a Briton who was held hostage in Lebanon for nearly five years in the 1980's, said that what the US government is doing in Cuba is similar to the injustice of his detention nearly two decades ago. He called the situation "a major breach of human rights."

The delegation of families was led by the Guantanamo Human Rights Commission, founded by actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave.

The group has planned to hold a wide range of meetings with human right campaigners and faith leaders in Washington and New York.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month from lawyers representing foreign "enemy combatants" who are being held incommunicado at the military prison.

At issue is whether the prisoners may challenge their detention in US courts.

Administration officials have said they have wide legal latitude to interrogate the detainees for extended period, claiming that national security is at risk.