Prince Harry ‘was warned about rapes and human rights atrocities in Africa carried out by rangers at charity months before he was promoted to its board of directors’
Prince Harry was warned about ‘vicious’ rapes and human rights abuses allegedly committed by rangers employed by a charity months before he was promoted to its board of directors, it is reported.
The Duke of Sussex was sent shocking testimony of crimes against Baka tribes people in the Republic of Congo while serving as president of African Parks, a conservation charity based in South Africa.
The royal was asked by Survival International, which fights for the rights of indigenous peoples, to use his ‘influence and position to stop these abuses being committed’ in a letter sent to both him and Meghan Markle in May last year.
Harry responded to say he had ‘escalated’ the concerns raised by Survival International to the CEO and chairman of African Parks, claiming they would be the ‘appropriate people to handle next steps’.
Since then he has been promoted to its governing board of directors – a move that may have been taken by the Duke in a bid to address the problem himself given his previous role of President was largely ceremonial.
However, it has also sparked outrage from Survival International and prompted calls for him to quit in support of the alleged victims of rapes, torture and beatings.
Prince Harry was the president of African Parks for six years until moving to the governing board of directors last year
African Parks rangers in the Kokoua National Park have been accused of widespread rights violations against the indigenous Baka people
Fiore Longo, campaign director at Survival International, claimed her charity sent the Duke a letter outlining the horrific allegations on May 31, 2023, months before he joined the African Parks board of directors.
The claims, which were also reported by The Mail on Sunday, included allegations of park rangers raping a young mother while she held her two-month-old baby, and another sex attack on an 18-year-old boy.
She told Newsweek: ‘The level of atrocities we were documenting was such that we decided to approach Prince Harry directly and we wrote a letter at the end of May.
‘He [Harry] replied just right after on 12 June telling us that he will escalate this to the CEO of African Parks, who then contacted us basically asking us to do his job, asking us for more details.’
In the letter sent to the Duke, which has been seen by MailOnline, Survival International said they chose to alert him because of his role as president of African Parks and his ‘shared commitment to oppose racism and injustice’.
The allegations, which also include beatings and torture by some guards employed by African Parks, centre on the treatment of the Baka, an indigenous group of hunter-gatherers who historically used the area that is now the Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo for food.
The letter, which was penned by Ms Longo, includes accusations of rangers evicting the Baka from their land ‘forcing them into starvation’ and torturing those who tried to return.
It also includes specific accusations of rape and abuse, such as men having ‘scalding hot wax’ poured on their backs and having their heads held underwater.
Harry was also allegedly sent a video recording of a man from the indigenous group talking about how he had been treated by African Parks rangers.
Bernard Mingo, left, and Victor Mayanga, alleged that they were beaten and handcuffed by African Parks rangers in the northern Republic of Congo
Odzala-Kokoua National Park is home to more than 400 bird species, 110 types of mammal and at least 4,400 plant varieties
Prince Harry was the charity’s president for six years until being elevated to the governing board of directors
Ms Longo told Newsweek she was ‘positive’ after getting a quick response as ‘he [Harry] seems like he really cares about the issue and he was worried’.
However, she said she was ‘shocked’ to find months later that the Duke had joined its board of directors.
She told the publication: ‘Before he had an honorary title, it was more symbolic. I watched the Netflix series and thought he will care about the Baka because he’s so outspoken on racism and things that until now were not being said in the royal family
‘So I was positive and we thought that he was going to do something. If he says something that can make a difference, but then when he joined the board of directors, that is the legal representative body it has the governance of the organisation.
‘That’s when we thought ‘why is he joining the board of an organisation that we have just told him has human-rights abuses and which the CEO hasn’t been very helpful.’ It was then that we thought, ‘We would need to go public’.’
Harry, who has said Africa is the place ‘where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world’, announced his appointment as president of the charity seven years ago while guest-editing BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. His involvement began with a trip to Malawi to assist an elephant project in 2016 and his role changed last autumn when he joined the charity’s board of directors.
‘What I see in the African Parks model is exactly what conservation should be about – putting people at the heart of the solution,’ he said in 2020. ‘Conservation can only be sustained when people living closest to nature are invested in its preservation.’
Harry has previously made it clear that he escalated Survival International’s concerns to the CEO and chairman of the board of African Parks as soon as he became aware of them.
A spokesman for Prince Harry’s foundation, Archewell, said: ‘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.’
Survival International has urged Harry to quit the conservation charity, which he joined six years ago as president before joining the board of directors last year.
African Parks, which manages national parks in 12 African countries through government partnerships, has been confronted by first-hand testimonies that the Baka an indigenous people have been subjected to disturbing intimidation.
It is claimed they have been stopped from entering forests where they have foraged, fished, hunted and found medicine for millennia.
Caroline Pearce, director of Survival International, said: ‘What The Mail on Sunday investigation has exposed is horrific. African Parks rangers are accused of brutalising the Baka people and enforcing theft of their rainforest.’
She said it was scandalous that such atrocities were committed while travel firms flew wealthy tourists into the area for gorilla-spotting safaris.
Ms Pearce urged Harry to distance himself from the charity which she claims is complicit in ‘heinous abuse’ of innocent people.
African Parks rangers have been accused of widespread human rights abuses in the Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo
Ella Ene recounted her terrifying ordeal to our reporter Ian Birrell
Mail reporter Ian Birrell with Justin Zoa, who told of being brutally whipped, during his investigation
‘As someone who has taken a high-profile stand against racism, the prince could help to bring about real change for indigenous people,’ she said.’
The Baka live in Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo, which has been managed by African Parks since 2010 – when it signed a 25-year deal with the government.
The charity is funded by the EU, the US government and wealthy philanthropists, including a Swiss billionaire who is part of the consortium which owns Chelsea Football Club. It has also received British aid for other areas of Africa.
Ms Pearce says that similar suffering, deprivation and destruction of traditional communities is being caused by other conservation bodies across Africa and Asia.
Survival International wrote in its letter to Prince Harry last May about ‘violent intimidation and torture’ that had taken place, including the rape of a young mother by a guard.
The man was dismissed, jailed and ordered to pay his victim about £1,300 in compensation. She claims she has only received about £500.
The MoS has also found first-hand testimonies of atrocities inflicted on the Baka, an indigenous people once known as pygmies, to stop them entering forests where they have foraged, fished, hunted and found medicines for millennia.
One man, who claims his head was forced under water while his hands were cuffed and his back whipped repeatedly with a belt, said: ‘Some guards are bad people and their activities should be stopped. What they are doing is cruel and inhumane.’
Reporter Ian Birrell with two Baka men who say they were beaten
A community activist told the MoS a Baka man died after being beaten and jailed without getting treatment for his injuries. One woman told of being raped by an armed guard while clinging to her newborn baby. And a teenage boy claimed he was groomed for paid sex by another guard. There are claims that medical staff were subjected to intimidation to cover up abuse.
One Baka man who says he witnessed a brutal attack by African Parks guards told the MoS that he wished Harry would use his power to intervene in order to ‘stop the pain and suffering caused to our community’.
On Saturday, African Parks said it has a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy for any form of abuse and is ‘committed to upholding the rights of local and indigenous people’.
It said: ‘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 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.
‘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.’
The charity also accused Survival International of refusing to co-operate with its inquiries.
Survival International has since posted a rebuttal on its website, saying it told African Parks in 2013 and 2014, before publishing a report on the allegations in 2017.
It said: ‘African Parks admitted to Survival as long ago as 2014 that they knew about abuse, and have even admitted to knowing details of specific cases we have raised.
‘They 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.
‘They already know enough, and have known it for long enough, to make clear that these are not isolated incidents, but a systemic problem for which they bear responsibility.’
MailOnline has contacted African Parks and representatives of Prince Harry and Survival International for further comment.
Colonel Theodore Golo, a former army officer who spent almost two years as the area’s top government official, said: ‘There are a lot of problems with the guards.’
He added: ‘Indigenous people are the best keepers of the forest and fauna. They know everything about the forest. They keep it better than we do and better than foreigners.’
The Mail on Sunday investigation highlights ongoing tensions between conservation groups and indigenous peoples in Africa and Asia.
While indigenous people care for forests, armed militia run by organisations are battling to save the natural world from miners, poachers and loggers.