Geoffrey D . Miller Geoffrey D . Miller ( born c . 1949 ) is a retired United States Army Major General who commanded the US detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba and Iraq . Detention facilities in Iraq under his command included Abu Ghraib prison , Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca . He is noted for having trained soldiers in using " enhanced interrogation techniques " and for carrying out the " First Special Interrogation Plan , " signed by Secretary of Defense , against a Guantanamo detainee . Miller was born in Gallipolis , Ohio . He attended Ohio State University where he got an undergraduate degree in History , following up with a Master of Science in Education Administration at the University of Southern California . Miller is the nephew of Bob Evans , of Bob Evans Restaurants , franchiser from Rio Grande , Ohio . Miller joined the US Army in 1972 and was trained in field artillery and army command . He spent time in Germany before being moved to Korea in 1980 . There , he rose to become assistant chief of staff for operations in Korea . Miller later returned to the United States to become the deputy chief of staff for personnel and installation management for the US Army . Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . On November 2002 , Miller was given command of Joint Task Force Guantanamo ( JTF - GTMO ) , which runs the US detention facilities known as Camp X - Ray , Camp Delta and Camp Echo in Cuba . Miller claimed that two - thirds of the 600 prisoners had confessed to being involved in terrorism and were giving " actionable intelligence . " The U . S . Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on December 2 , 2002 authorized in writing the " First Special Interrogation Plan , " listing 17 techniques to be used on the detainee Mohammed al Qahtani . These were developed in consultation with Miller who carried them out . It was later revealed that such techniques were used more widely against other prisoners as well . At the time , the Red Cross was denied access to detainees . On September 22 , 2003 , Miller ordered the arrest of James Yee , an Army captain who served as a chaplain for the Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo . Miller accused Yee of stealing classified documents and smuggling them out of the prison , but those charges were later dropped . He was honorably discharged on January 7 , 2004 . It is believed that no evidence of espionage was found , but records on the case have been sealed . Abu Ghraib prison scandal . In 2008 , as a result of a joint Senate investigation by the Intelligence and Armed Services committees , it was revealed that on March 14 , 2003 , John Yoo of the Office of Legal Counsel , Department of Justice , issued a legal opinion to William Haynes , General Counsel of the Department of Defense , in which he concluded that federal laws related to the use of torture and other abuse would not apply to US interrogators overseas . This was five days before the US invasion of Iraq began on March 19 , 2003 . Yoo had also been involved in drafting what came to be known as the Torture Memos of August 2002 , which had been issued to the CIA . In June 2004 , Jack Goldsmith , then head of OLC , advised Defense and the CIA not to rely on these memos . In August 2003 , Miller was sent to Iraq by the Department of Defense to advise on " more productive " interrogations of Iraqi prisoners . In September , Miller submitted a report that recommended " GTMO - ising " their approach - combining the detention and interrogation units at Abu Ghraib into the Theater Joint Interrogation and Detention Center . Specifically , Miller suggested that prison guards be used to " soften up " prisoners for interrogations . In his final report on the prison abuse at Abu Ghraib the following year , General Antonio Taguba blamed Miller ' s recommendations for the abuse . He said that using military police or guards for interrogation was a breach of official policy . Miller denies that he specifically ordered guards to torture prisoners to get information . After the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse story broke in April 2004 , Brigadier General Janis Karpinski was suspended . Miller was appointed as the deputy commanding general for detainee operations for Multinational Forces in Iraq . In this role , Miller reported directly to Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez . Miller vowed to reduce the number of prisoners in Abu Ghraib , adhere to military laws as well as the Geneva Convention , investigate allegations of abuse , and reform the Iraqi prison system . He banned the use of hoods on prisoners during transport and set up a new system to allow prisoners to have visitors . Since the investigation of abuses at Abu Ghraib , some have suggested that Miller had earlier encouraged abusive tactics . In an interview with BBC Radio , Janis Karpinski , the former prison commander , claimed that Miller had told her to treat prisoners " like dogs , " saying , " if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you ' ve lost control of them " . Major General Miller denies the statement . Colonel Thomas Pappas , head of the military intelligence brigade at Abu Ghraib , has claimed that it was Miller ' s idea to use attack dogs to intimidate prisoners . He said the same tactics were being used at Camp X - Ray at Guantanam . Several of the photos taken at Abu Ghraib show dogs surrounding ( and in at least one case biting ) screaming , naked detainees . In November 2004 , Miller was replaced as deputy commanding general for detainee operations by Major General William H . Brandenburg . Exercised Fifth Amendment right . In 2006 , Miller exercised his use of the Fifth Amendment in refusing to answer certain questions while testifying in courts martial cases related to Abu Ghraib . He also used his right during a hearing before the US Senate in 2006 . According to the " New York Times " : " He changed his position when the US Senate Armed Services Committee delayed his retirement until he was more forthcoming . " In May 2006 Miller testified at the courts martial of the Abu Ghraib dog handlers that his instructions on the use of dogs had been misunderstood . Miller testified that he instructed that dogs should be used " only for custody and control of detainees " . The next day Miller ' s testimony was directly contradicted by Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Phillabaum , the commander of Abu Ghraib ' s Military Police detachment . Request for war crimes prosecution . In November 2006 , the German government received a complaint seeking the prosecution of Alberto Gonzales , then - Attorney General and former White House Counsel , for alleged war crimes . Co - defendants included : Geoffrey D . Miller , Donald H . Rumsfeld , George Tenet , Stephen Cambone , Ricardo S . Sanchez , Walter Wojdakowski , Thomas M . Pappas , Barbara Fast , Marc Warren , John Yoo , William J . Haynes , II , David Addington , and Jay Bybee , top political appointees who participated in making policy about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques for CIA and DOD . On 14 November 2006 , the German attorney Wolfgang Kaleck filed the complaint with the German Federal Attorney General ( " Generalbundesanwalt " ) against Miller for his complicity in torture and other crimes against humanity at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . Kaleck was acting on behalf of 11 victims of torture and other human rights abuses , as well as about 30 human rights activists and organizations who are co - plaintiffs . The co - plaintiffs to the war crimes prosecution include : 1980 Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel ( Argentine ) , 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner Martín Almada ( Paraguay ) , Theo van Boven , the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture , Sister Dianna Ortiz ( Torture survivor , Executive Director of TASSC ) , the International Federation for Human Rights , the International Peace Bureau ( Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1910 ) , the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms ( IALANA ) , European Democratic Lawyers , European Democratic Jurists , International Association of Democratic Lawyers , Comité de Acción Jurídica ( CAJ ) ( Argentina ) , Liga Argentina por los Derechos del Hombre ( Argentina ) , Bahrain Human Rights Society ( BHRS ) , Lawyers against the War ( LAW ) ( Canada ) , Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo ( Colombia ) , Association Africaine des Droits de l ' Homme ( ASADHO ) ( Democratic Republic of Congo ) , Egyptian Organization for Human Rights ( EOHR ) ( Egypt ) , Ligue Française des Droits de l ' Homme ( LDH ) , The Republican Attorneys ' Association ( RAV ) ( Germany ) , Amman Center for Human Rights Studies ( ACHR ) ( Jordan ) , Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos ( CMDPDH ) , Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos ( LIMEDDH ) , Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos ( CENIDH ) , Palestinian Center for Human Rights , Association Tchadienne pour la Promotion et la Défense des Droits de l ' Homme ( ATPDH ) ( Chad ) , Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l ' Homme ( RADDHO ) ( Senegal ) , The Center for Constitutional Rights ( CCR ) , National Lawyers Guild ( NLG ) , Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International ( TASSC ) , and Veterans for Peace . And ? action ? On 7 January 2011 , the Center for Constitutional Rights ( CCR ) and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights ( ECCHR ) asked a Spanish judge to subpoena Miller to explain his role in the torture of four former detainees . Congressional testimony . In July 2005 discrepancies emerged between Miller ' s May 2004 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee , and sworn statements he made three months later . General Miller has not been charged with perjury . Retirement . Miller retired from the Army on July 31 , 2006 . The " Washington Post " reports that Miller had wanted to retire in February , forgoing trying for promotion to Lieutenant General , because his reputation had been damaged by alleged links between his policies at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp and at Abu Ghraib , and the abuse of prisoners . The " Washington Post " reported that Congress delayed his retirement because senators were not confident he told the truth when he testified before them . The " Washington Post " reports that he was allowed to retire only when he promised , in writing , to appear before Congress , and testify truthfully . At his retirement service , Miller was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal , and praised as an " innovator " . On April 13 , 2013 , Miller was on a list released by the Russian Federation of Americans banned from entering the country because of their alleged human rights violation s . The list was a direct response to the so - called Magnitsky list revealed by the United States the day before .