Гитанамо мен Абу-Грейб абақтыларындағы қиындықтар: Джеффри Миллер ісі

Retired United States Army Major General

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 torture, or "enhanced interrogation techniques" in US euphemism, and for carrying out the "First Special Interrogation Plan," signed by the Secretary of Defense, against a Guantanamo detainee. It was later revealed that such techniques were used more widely against other prisoners as well. Miller advocated the use of extreme torture. 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. Captain Yee 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.

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 prison 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 Guantanamo. 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.

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. On May 19, 2004, Miller had testified to the committee that he had only filed a report on his visit to Abu Ghraib, and didn't talk to Secretary Rumsfield or any of his top aides. Miller stated, that he "submitted the report up to SOUTHCOM (U. S. Southern Command, where Miller was attached in 2003)," and "had no direct discussions with Secretary Cambone." Three months later, Miller said he and Undersecretary Stephen Cambone had discussed "how we could improve the flow of intelligence from Iraq through and in interrogations." Also, he released a statement to defense lawyers for guards being accused of prisoner abuse stating he gave an outbrief to both Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Secretary Miller said in the Aug. 21, 2004, statement to lawyers for guards accused of prisoner abuse, a transcript of which was obtained by the Chicago Tribune.

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".