The Guantanamo Bay detention facility, where the population has shrunk to just 41 prisoners, will likely be getting additional inmates under the Trump administration, The Hill reported.
President Trump has vowed to "load" up the American prison in Cuba "with some bad dudes," the website noted.
"On Gitmo, I think you're going to see further action," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said."I don't want to get ahead of the president, but this is something that has been discussed."
And critics are preparing to battle with Trump if he keeps his pledge, The Hill noted.
"Our people are ready to mobilize if new people are added to Guantánamo, which hasn't happened in a long time," said Elizabeth Beavers, senior campaigner for security with human rights at Amnesty International USA."That's something very serious, and I think it would activate people in a robust way."
Former President Obama failed to carry through with his campaign promise to shut down the facility. However, he did reduce the population from the 242 detainees who were housed there in 2009, according to the website.
And The Hill noted 10 of those remaining at the facility have been convicted or charged by military commissions. Included in those awaiting trial are five 9/11 suspects and the USS Cole bombing suspects.
Five others were awaiting transfer.
A draft order published Wednesday calls for suspending any existing transfer efforts pending a new review, the website said. It also calls for the continued operation of Guantánamo to hold and try members of al Qaeda, the Taliban and"associated forces," including the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The order extends to"newly captured alien enemy combatants" from those groups.
Meanwhile, USA Today reported Obama had transferred 10 detainees from the facility to the nation of Oman shortly before he left office.The move was made after a determination that the prisoners no longer represented a threat, the newspaper reported.
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