There have been calls for the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, to step down from the board of the African Park amid allegations of abuse of its rangers. There is an ongoing investigation into allegations that rangers unfairly beat and imprisoned Congolese people for trying to access the forest.
Prince Harry was informed of the allegations in May 2023 and also responded, but there has been no further update. The African Park itself has issued a statement in which it emphasizes a zero-tolerance policy for abuse and pressure.
Abuse Investigations Have Been Made Public
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The Daily Mail recently published shocking allegations against rangers working in African Parks in the Republic of Congo. According to the news channel, the guards abused members of the Baka indigenous group (previously known as pygmies), who live in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
The allegations include that the rangers used force to prevent the Baka people from accessing the forest, where they have “foraged, fished, hunted and discovered medicine for millennia.” Community activists told news channels that a Baka man died from his injuries after being beaten and unjustly imprisoned.
Another woman claimed she was raped by armed guards while with her newborn baby. There were even more gruesome allegations, including one man being whipped with a belt and subjected to water torture. They also claim that medical staff at the park were “subjected to intimidation to cover up abuse” of Baka.
Prince Urged To Resign From African Parks Board
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Amid the abuse allegations, Survival International, a London-based human rights organization that campaigns to protect and defend the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, has called on Prince Harry to resign as a member of the African Parks Board.
Their campaign director issued a statement to The Timeswhich read, “We hope that his stepping down from the board will send a clear signal to this organization that human rights violations in the name of conservation are no longer acceptable.”
Harry began working with the African Park in 2016, and the following year, he was elected president of the group. In 2023, six years into his tenure, the Duke of Sussex was officially appointed as a member of the Board of Directors, which is the organization’s governing body.
Prince Harry Was Previously Informed Of Alleged Abuse At African Park
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Survival International reportedly wrote to Harry in May 2023 to inform him of the alleged abuse. At the time, he was still the president of the African Park and was also sent a video message from Eyaya, a Baka man, in which he spoke about the abuse.
At that time, Eyaya said, “Eco guards stopped us from entering the forest. I want whoever sent all these people here to hear how it’s going. I want the person in charge of the eco controller and give them instructions to listen to this. Now, there is only torture in the forest.”
follow The Times report, Harry responded to the message with an “initially sympathetic letter” and promised to address their concerns and “raise concerns to the most senior ranks of the organisation, including the chief executive, Peter Fearnhead.”
However, Fiore Longo, campaign director of Survival International, told the news outlet that there has been no further update from Harry since then. He said, “He said he took it seriously, but it did not achieve the change we hoped for. Then, much to our dismay, we learned that Harry had joined the board.”
African Parks Has Issued A Statement
Amid the controversy over alleged abuse, African Parks has released a statement from its CEO and board of directors. In it, they emphasized their zero-tolerance policy for abuse and pressure and revealed that there was an ongoing investigation, which was a “highest priority”.
It reads, “We are aware of serious allegations of human rights violations by eco-guards against local people living adjacent to the Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo, which have recently received media attention. We became aware of these allegations last year through a Board Member who received a letter from Survival International.”
African Parks further wrote that there has been poor cooperation from Survival International regarding the sharing of information on the case. They also encourage anyone with “knowledge of any abuse to report it to us or to the Congolese law enforcement authorities, who will assist the investigation and ensure that the perpetrators of any abuse are brought to justice.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
