Donald Trump plans to send Isis suspects to Guantanamo Bay

President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to issue an executive order for Isis suspects to be held at the Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba.

The latest draft of the order, which was obtained by the New York Times, orders Defence Secretary Jim Mattis to use Guantanamo to detain suspected members of "Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces, including individuals and networks associated with the Islamic State."

However critics have argued that the wording of the order could allow Isis detainees to successfully challenge their imprisonment in the facility, by arguing that the conflict against Isis was never sanctioned by Congress.

The administration of President Barack Obama argued that the military operation against Isis was authorised as an extension of the war against the Taliban and Al- Qaeda, that was approved by Congress in 2001.

Legal experts believe that the increasingly remote connections between Isis and al-Qaeda could render this void.

Congress in 2015 and 2016 declined to explicitly authorise the use of force against Isis or the detention of Isis suspects, after disagreement over issues including whether it should limit the use of ground forces against the group.

The Guantanamo Bay facility was used during the presidency of George W Bush to detain terror suspects, several of whom were tortured and held without trial.

Obama signed an executive order to shut down the facility in his first week in office, but the facility remained open for the eight years of his presidency. Obama did reduce prisoner numbers from 241 when he took office to 21 when he left.

According to the Times, the new draft revokes the Obama executive order to close the facility, and drops references to using the military tribunal system to try detainees.

On the campaign trail Trump pledged to increase the number of prisoners at the facility.