Donald Ryder was a United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 officer (Military Police branch).
Ryder was commissioned in 1971
He was promoted to Major General

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 in 2001
He served as the most senior officer in the Criminal Investigation Division, and was also the top Army Law Enforcement officer as the US Army Provost Marshal General.

In 2003 Ryder conducted an inquiry into abuse of prisoners in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, cited in the Taguba Report

Taguba Report

The Taguba Report is the common name of an official Army Regulation 15-6 military inquiry conducted in 2004 into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse.-Initiation:...

.
Some of the key recommendations of Ryder's report were directly contrary to the recommendations of Major General

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 Geoffrey Miller, formerly the commander of Camp Delta

Camp Delta

Camp Delta is a permanent detainment camp at Guantanamo Bay that replaced the temporary facilities of Camp X-Ray. Its first facilities were built between February 27 and mid-April 2002 by Navy Seabees, Marine Engineers, and workers from Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root...

.
Ryder recommended that the duties of the military police who guarded detainees should be strictly separated from the duties of the Military Intelligence

Military intelligence

Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....

 officers who interrogated them.
General Miller had urged closer cooperation between guards and interrogators. Miller had recommended that guards "set the conditions" for successful interrogation—a vague term that some critics believe was the trigger for some of the abuse some guards later committed. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...

's response to the public release of the news of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse

Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse

Beginning in 2004, human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to public attention...

 was to ignore Ryder and Taguba's recommendations and appoint General Miller to take over direction of the prison facilities in Iraq. Ryder also oversaw the organization and operations of the DoD Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) which conducted terrorism investigations. Ryder retired in 2007.