Prince Harry Urged To Quit Africa Charity Over 'Rapes And Abuse' Accusations

Prince Harry is being advised to step down from his role in a charity under scrutiny for allegations of rape and torture committed by its staff towards local individuals in the Republic of the Congo, The Independent reported.

Security personnel employed and financed by Africa Parks are facing accusations of human rights violations, including physical assault, sexual assault, and torture of indigenous Baka people residing in the rainforests.

Africa Parks, the African charity in question, has stated that it is actively investigating the reported allegations initially brought to light by the Mail on Sunday.

Presently, the Duke of Sussex serves as a board member and has previously held the position of president within this non-profit organisation.

The charity, responsible for overseeing 22 national parks and protected areas across 12 countries, has declared that its ongoing investigation is of the "highest priority" and has urged anyone with information regarding any misconduct to come forward.

Founded in 2000 with the mission to safeguard Africa's national parks and promote wildlife conservation, Africa Parks administers a portfolio exceeding 20 million hectares of protected territory, to make each park "ecologically, socially and financially sustainable for the long-term"

Fiore Longo, the head of the conservation campaign at Survival International, remarked that the most recent series of allegations are not surprising, citing a history of abuse cases in the region that have occurred regularly over the years.

She said, " "With the arrival of protected areas during colonial times, many of the locals have already been evicted.

"But it's specifically around 2010 when African Parks took over that the locals said the violence started being worse than before because their park rangers would beat them every time they tried to get in the forest, which is their home, to collect medicinal plants, to hunt and to feed their families. So everything they do for a living is a crime now."

Ms Longo told The Independent that she has heard cases from her colleagues of local women being raped, men having their heads put underwater in rivers and some being burned with hot wax and whipped.

Ella Ene told MoS that she was raped by a guard three years ago while she was holding her 4-week-old baby. 

After she complained about the man, her attacker was dismissed and subsequently jailed, but he only served two months behind bars. 

The newspaper also reported that a man was tortured by guards for collecting honey for his family. 

Human rights campaigners said they flagged concerns to the Duke of Sussex in May last year.

Survival International said they initially received a sympathetic response from the duke within a fortnight, pledging to escalate concerns, The Independent reported.

Fiore Longo, campaigns director of Survival International, said they received no further updates. She told the Times, "He said he took it seriously, but it didn't achieve the change we had hoped to see. Then, very disappointingly, we learnt that Harry had joined the board of directors."

When the duke was appointed to the board, African Parks praised him as a "humanitarian, military veteran mental wellness advocate and environmentalist [who] has dedicated his life's work to advancing causes that he is passionate about, and that bring about permanent change for people and places".

Longo said: "We hope he will act as the human rights campaigner he is supposed to be. Harry talks about social justice. He has spoken out about racism in the past. He is now in the world of directors. When you give your name to an organisation, you are part of that organisation. You must act if human rights abuses are going on.

"We hope that his stepping down from the board of directors will give a clear signal to this organisation that human rights abuses in the name of conservation are not tolerated anymore."

A spokesman for Prince Harry's foundation, Archewell, told the Mail: "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."

A statement from the African Parks board and chief executive said: "African Parks has a zero-tolerance policy for any form of abuse and is committed to upholding the rights of local and indigenous people.

"Allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated and acted on, and all of our parks are managed with a central philosophy of awareness, sensitivity and commitment to upholding the rights of local people.

"We are aware of the serious allegations regarding human rights abuses by eco-guards against local people living adjacent to Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo, which have recently received media attention.

"We became aware of these allegations last year via a board member who received a letter from Survival International.

"We immediately launched an investigation through an external law firm based on the information we had available, while also urging Survival International to provide any facts they had.

"Unfortunately, they have chosen not to cooperate, despite repeated requests, and we continue to ask for their assistance.

"This is an active, ongoing investigation that is our highest priority as an organisation, and we encourage anyone with knowledge of any abuses to report them to us or to the Congolese law enforcement authorities which will assist with the investigation and ensure that the perpetrators of any abuses are brought to justice."