The Guardian reported today that the United States is accused by the human rights organization Reprieve of holding potentially hundreds of suspected terrorists aboard military “prison ships,” an effort the group says infringes upon the legal rights of those held.

The report relies upon sources within the U.S. military, foreign governments, as well as released prisoners, and accuses the United States of operating as many as 17 “floating prisons,” where detainees are interrogated and processed for holding at other facilities. The U.S. government was urged yesterday to provide an account of its operations, which, if confirmed, would be subject to international law.

“They choose ships to try to keep their misconduct as far as possible from the prying eyes of the media and lawyers,” said Clive Stafford Smith, legal director for Reprieve. “We will eventually reunite these ghost prisoners with their legal rights.”

According to Smith, “the U.S. government is currently detaining at least 26,000 people without trial in secret prisons, and information suggests up to 80,000 have been ‘through the system’ since 2001.”

The accusations are already drawing a response from several members of parliament in the U.K., who are demanding that the U.S., with whom the U.K. is integrally cooperative in prosecuting the so-called “war on terror,” disclose its activities.