African eco-group linked to Prince Harry to examine rape claims
AN ORGANISATION linked to the Duke of Sussex is investigating allegations of rape and torture committed by its park rangers in Africa.
Prince Harry was president of African Parks, a non-governmental organisation, from 2017 until last year, when he became one of directors.
An investigation published by the
Mail on Sunday alleges that guards working for the not-for-profit business subjected indigenous people to human rights abuses such as rape and torture.
African Parks is responsible for 22 national parks and protected areas across the continent but the newspaper’s allegations centre on Odzala-kokoua National Park, in the northwest of the Republic of Congo, where the Baka people have lived for generations. The newspaper has claimed that park rangers are committing atrocities against them to prevent them entering forests in which they hunt and forage.
Allegations it has reported include that a man had his head forced under water while his hands were cuffed and he was whipped repeatedly across his back with a belt and a woman was raped by an armed guard while clinging to her newborn baby.
Survival International, a campaign group for indigenous people, in May reportedly called on the Duke to use his “influence and position” to stop “abuses being committed by an organisation to which [he has] lent [his] name”.
A spokesman for the Duke’s Archewell foundation told the newspaper: “When the Duke became aware of these serious allegations, he immediately escalated them to the CEO and chairman of the board of African Parks, the appropriate people to handle next steps.” Yesterday, Caroline Pearce, director of Survival International said: “African Parks … takes indignous land to turn it into militarised parks or reserves – and their guards attack people. Prince Harry … needs to distance himself from an organisation that is complicit in the heinous abuse of indigenous people.”
African Parks’ website states that it has a “zero-tolerance policy for any form of abuse” and is “committed to upholding the rights of … indigenous people”. It added that it had urged Survival International to provide facts regarding “allegations regarding human rights abuses by eco-guards … at Odzala-kokoua National Park” but it had “chosen not to co-operate, despite repeated requests, and that it continued “to ask for [its] assistance.”