Prince Harryis being called to step down from the board of African Parks amid a report that its rangers raped, beat and tortured indigenous people in Africa.
Prince Harry, 39, got involved with African Parks in 2016 and became president of the non-profit conservation group that manages national parks across the continent the following year. In 2023, after serving six years as president, he was elevated to anofficially appointedmember of the Board of Directors, the governing body of the organization.
African Parks currently manages 22 national parks and protected areas in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan Zambia and Zimbabwe, its website outlines. The conservation organization works with governments and local communities for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks.
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The outlet reports that Harry was also sent a video message from a Baka man named Eyaya, who said, “The eco-guards are stopping us from going into the forest. I’d like whoever is sending all these people here to hear what it’s like. I want the person who is in charge of the eco-guards and gives them their orders to hear this. Now there is only torture in the forest.”
According toThe Times, the Duke of Sussex “responded within a fortnight with an initially sympathetic letter, promising to escalate the concerns to the most senior ranks of the organization, including the chief executive, Peter Fearnhead.” The British newspaper said the Zimbabwean conservationist attended Prince Harry’s royal wedding toMeghan Marklein May 2018.
In a piece published on Sunday Fiore Longo, campaigns director of Survival International, toldThe Timesthat the organization received no further updates from there and said it was discouraging when the Duke of Sussex joined the board of directors.
“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,” said Longo.
Survival International is now urging Prince Harry to step down from the post, which was further outlined in astatementshared Saturday.
“We hope that his stepping down from the board of directors will give a clear signal to this organization that human rights abuses in the name of conservation are not tolerated any more,” the campaigns director toldThe Times.
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Amid the backlash, African Parks issued astatementfrom the CEO and the board on Saturday to emphasize its zero-tolerance policy for abuse and stress that an ongoing investigation into the allegations made involving the guards at Odzala-Kokoua National Park was its “highest priority.”
“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,” said the message shared to African Parks’ website.
“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 and all facts they had. It’s unfortunate that they have chosen not to cooperate, despite repeated requests, and we continue to ask for their assistance,” the statement said. “This is an active, ongoing investigation that is our highest priority as an organization, 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."
Prince Harry speaks with British soldiers and Malawian game rangers at Liwonde National Park in September 2019.AMOS GUMULIRA/AFP via Getty Images
AMOS GUMULIRA/AFP via Getty Images
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In a written statement to PEOPLE, Survival International denied the allegation that they had not provided sufficient information for an investigation to proceed. African Parks, they said, “have immense resources to find out what they need to know - and the responsibility to do so, as managers of the park and employer of the rangers.
“Everyone who spends even a few days in a Baka village hears account after account,” they wrote.
source: people.com
