Prince Harry was reportedly approached by indigenous advocacy groups about the abuse
Prince Harry’s wildlife conservation charity, African Parks, admits to ‘human rights abuses’ after investigation
An African wildlife conservation charity partly run by Prince Harry has admitted that its rangers committed human rights abuses in the Republic of the Congo after an exposé published last year.
African Parks — where the Duke of Sussex served as president from 2017 to 2023 before joining the governing board of directors per their website — confirmed this week that “in some incidents, human rights abuses have occurred” at Odzala-Kokoua National Park, according to multiple reports.
The admission follows a damning January 2024 Mail on Sunday report that accused the charity’s rangers of beating, waterboarding, and raping indigenous locals to keep them from entering ancestral lands.
The findings stem from an internal review conducted by Omnia Strategy, the law firm headed by Cherie Blair. While the firm has been investigating since December, African Parks has opted not to release the full report to the public.
“There is no place for any form of abuse in the name of conservation,” African Parks said in a statement, expressing regret for the suffering caused and vowing to overhaul its systems.
Still, indigenous advocacy group Survival International, who reportedly raised abuse allegations directly with Prince Harry, is demanding more transparency.
“We still don’t know the details of what they found, because African Parks has refused to allow the findings to be made public,” said director Caroline Pearce.
She further slammed the charity’s approach: “African Parks continues to cling to a racist and colonial model of conservation.”
