logo
Charity linked to Prince Harry admits to human rights abuses

Charity linked to Prince Harry admits to human rights abuses

Telegraph08-05-2025

A charity linked to Prince Harry has admitted multiple human rights abuses carried out by its park rangers.
The Duke of Sussex was president of African Parks from 2017 until 2023, when he was made a member of the board of directors.
An investigation published by the Mail on Sunday in January last year alleged guards working for the non-profit in the Republic of the Congo subjected indigenous people to a range of abuses, including rape and torture.
The charity has admitted human rights abuses did take place, following a review by Omnia Strategy, a London-based law firm headed by Cherie Blair.
Part of a lengthy statement, released by the charity, read: 'The board of African Parks has reviewed Omnia's advice and endorsed the management plan and timeframes to implement the recommendations resulting from this process.
'African Parks acknowledges that, in some incidents, human rights abuses have occurred, and we deeply regret the pain and suffering that these have caused to the victims.
'Omnia's process also highlighted several failures of our systems and processes that were insufficient for the level of responsibility given to us, particularly in the early years of our management of Odzala [a national park in the Congo].'
The full findings have not been made public by the charity.
The Telegraph understands the Duke of Sussex has been closely involved in understanding the findings and implementing any necessary change.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Deadly African scorpion is found by horrified Brit woman after it ‘crawled past her feet' while she watched TV
Deadly African scorpion is found by horrified Brit woman after it ‘crawled past her feet' while she watched TV

The Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Sun

Deadly African scorpion is found by horrified Brit woman after it ‘crawled past her feet' while she watched TV

A WOMAN has been left terrified after returning home from holiday and discovering a "deadly" scorpion in her home. It is believed the scorpion hitched a ride back in her luggage when she returned from a holiday in Africa. 4 The deadly scorpion was discovered in a Swindon home earlier this month. It was reportedly spotted by the homeowner as she sat watching TV with the scorpion crawling across her carpet right under her nose. The terrified homeowner bravely trapped it under a wine glass before transferring it into a jar where it was safely kept until help arrived. The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was called and recommended the woman speak to a specialist. Jonathan Cleverly who provides educational workshops for schools featuring insects, reptiles and invertebrates was eventually scrambled to deal with the African scorpion. Jonathan took the creature away after identifying it as a member of the Buthidae family which several of the most deadly scorpion species in the world are also a part of. After getting the deadly creature home Jonathan made sure to keep it locked up safely before finding it a new home. Jonathan owns several scorpions himself and was well prepared with the proper equipment to transport the deadly animal. He dismissed the idea that the animal was an escaped pet, believing it snuck into the UK in the woman's luggage. The dangerous creatures are commonly found in Africa from where the homeowner had recently returned. The scorpion has since been taken to live with an expert who has a DWA (Dangerous Wild Animals) licence. Moment student finds deadly Chinese SCORPION inside her parcel It was estimated to be around 4cm long with Jonathan calling it the "most dangerous animal" he ever had. Speaking to the BBC Jonathan said: "She'd [the homeowner] done a brilliant job of moving it from a wine glass into a jam jar with a secure lid so it couldn't move and escape. "She put in some lettuce for a bit of moisture. She looked after it brilliantly well. "The scorpion, I would like to say, is absolutely gorgeous - even if it is potentially harmful to humans, it's a very rare thing for these sorts of scorpion to make their way into the UK." 4 4 The six legged creature boasts a pair of fearsome looking claws and a large, venomous stinger on its tail. Coming in at just 4cm the scorpion is small but deadly with the species occasionally causing human fatalities. When fully grown the scorpion can reach a terrifying 12cm, more than twice the size of the one found in Swindon. What are the most poisonous animals in the world? Here are seven of the most deadly creatures... The box jellyfish is widely regarded to be the most posionous animal in the world and contians a toxin that can cause heart attacks Cobras, typically found in the jungles of India and China, can spit a venom which can result in death in a very short space of time and just 7ml of their venom is enough to kill 20 humans The marbled cone snail is a sea creature that can release venom so toxic it can result in vision loss, respiratory failure, muscle paralysis and eventually death and, to make things worse, there is no anti-venom available Posion dart frogs are small and brightly coloured but have glands containing a toxin that blocks nerve signals to muscles, causing paralysis and death Puffer fish are considered to be a dangerous delicacy because some of their anatomy contains a hazardous toxin which, if ingested in a large quantity, can cause convulsions, paralysis, cardiac arrhythmia, and ultimately death The Brazillian wandering spider, also known as the 'banana spider', has venom that is so high in serotonin it can paralyse and kill Death stalker scorpions have a fitting name as enough venom from one can cause a lot of pain and respiratory failure

Inside Syria's ‘human slaughterhouse' prisons where sick guards threw ‘execution parties' & floors were carpet of bodies
Inside Syria's ‘human slaughterhouse' prisons where sick guards threw ‘execution parties' & floors were carpet of bodies

The Sun

time7 hours ago

  • The Sun

Inside Syria's ‘human slaughterhouse' prisons where sick guards threw ‘execution parties' & floors were carpet of bodies

IT was one of the most fearsome regimes in the Middle East, ruling Syria with an iron grip and 'disappearing' hundreds of thousands of people during the country's brutal civil war. But President Bashar Al-Assad's dramatic toppling in December last year exposed the true horrors of his 'human slaughterhouse' prisons. 15 15 15 Here detainees were fed from buckets and tortured day and night by sadistic guards who often assassinated them and threw sick 'execution parties' - before disposing of the dead in mass graves. Now a harrowing new BBC documentary, on tonight, delves into what really went on in jails that let Assad keep his grip on power for so long - and hears not only from the inmates detained in them, but the people who ran them. 'When the prisoners heard my name, they would tremble,' said Hussam, a military policeman who worked in the notorious Saydnaya Prison. 'I beat them with all my strength. I showed them no mercy at all.' With the dictator gone, outsiders were free to explore the labyrinth of concrete corridors that only a few months before were filled with the echoing screams of gaunt prisoners. The floors were littered with files and photographs of detainees - some partially burnt in an attempt to cover up the crimes - just part of the meticulous records kept by the state of everyone who passed through the prison walls, their names replaced by a number. Families of the missing and imprisoned are seen in the documentary desperately crawling over rubble hunting for a trace of their loved ones - or at least the truth about what happened to them. Since 2000, dictator Bashar Al-Assad presided over a Syria where dissent was crushed and human rights abuses were rife. Crucial to his hold on power were his security services, who showed little mercy to prisoners accused of threatening the regime. 'As security officers we had the right to kill as we please. We wouldn't be held accountable,' said Colonel Zain, a former Air Force Intelligence officer interviewed on the documentary. Assad torture victims reveal horror of 'burned bodies' & forgetting their names – amid hunt for tyrant's thugs '[Our] mission, like any other agency, was to protect the ruling regime. You have unlimited authority." To them, these were terrorists - and death was the least they deserved. In 2011, protests in Tunisia turned into a call for better human rights across the Middle East and North Africa, a movement called the Arab spring. But when those protests swept into the squares of Syria's capital, Damascus, they were met with a fierce crackdown. Instead of toppling Assad, the country was plunged into a brutal civil war as different factions wrestled for control. During the 13 years of fighting, more than one million people were detained by the regime. Street kidnappings 15 15 15 Shadi Haroun was one of the first organising protests back in 2011, along with his brother Hadi. After dodging shots from snipers on rooftops, he was bundled into a car and taken to what looked like an ordinary house in the suburbs of Damascus. But this was no home. It was an interrogation centre - and Shadi was to get his first taste of the Assad regime's determination to stamp him out. 'The soldier told me to open my mouth,' Shadi recalled. 'He put his gun inside, and said: 'You're going to get tortured to death. So why don't I make it easier and put you to rest?'' Soon after he was transferred to Mezzeh Air Force Intelligence base, one of the regime's most notorious detention sites. Like all those who opposed Assad, Shadi was deemed a terrorist - with torture their chosen method of extracting a confession. 'He called the investigator and said to him, 'This man, flay him and break his bones. Kill him, do whatever you want, but I need his confession on my desk',' said Shadi. 'He told me to lie down. They handcuffed my hands behind my back, and then cuffed my feet and joined my hands and feet together. 'They wrapped me in a blanket, like being inside a pipe. I was sweating and the smell of blood was very strong. I stayed wrapped like that for about a week." Eventually Shadi was released. Undeterred, he began organising protests again, more determined than ever to bring down the regime. Carpet of bodies 15 15 15 Within nine months of the protests, thousands had been arrested, many bundled off the streets like Shadi and taken to secretive locations where they were tortured until they 'confessed'. At least 3,000 had already been killed. Syria's security forces had a network of spies and informants across the country that tracked people like Shadi's every move. 'You could find informants wherever you go,' said Sergeant Omar, an officer in the Air Force Intelligence. 'They could be a taxi driver, they could be a plumber, a mobile phone shop owner, a guy selling cigarettes. 'People were living in fear. This is why we'd say, 'the walls have ears'.' It wasn't long before soldiers pulled up to the house Shadi and his brother were hiding in. Arrested once again, they were taken to the notorious Air Force Intelligence branch in Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus. Colonel Zain was second in command at the time. 'The place I worked in was very famous for its bloody practices and the number of detainees held there,' he said. 'We would pack 400 detainees in a room that was eight by ten metres. Those who entered would walk over the bodies of the detainees - you couldn't see the floor.' Shadi returned to Harasta with the documentary crew and showed them round the bare walls that once imprisoned him. 'The temperature was around 40 degrees, because it was so crowded,' said Shadi. 'We saw strange cases of disease amongst prisoners, I think due to oxygen deficiency because of overcrowding. These psychotic episodes soon turned into physical symptoms.' 'Torture parties' 15 15 Inside is a changing room, where inmates were stripped, and solitary confinement cells where prisoners would spend months, or even years, locked up. In a neighbouring room, Shadi is reminded of when he was chained up with his brother before being interrogated from pipes on the ceiling. 'We were taken there and hung by our handcuffs from the pipes,' he said. 'It was unbearable - for almost 72 hours, three days, in the same position, without food or drink.' Colonel Zain recalled: 'The interrogation room was right underneath my office. 'Everyone heard the screams. Everyone knew how the interrogations were conducted.' Four months into their detention, a truck pulled up that was normally used to transport meat and they were moved to Saydnaya, a prison with a reputation for brutality that preceded anywhere else in the country. Brainwashed guards treated prisoners like animals, subjecting detainees to continuous beatings. 'We were tortured for hours, and stopped keeping track of time,' recalled Hadi. 'If someone cried during a beating, the beating would get worse." Torture them, don't let them sleep at night. Throw them a party… put them in a grave if you want to, bury them alive Intelligence officer Putting his arms up against a door, Shadi said: "They'd bring a cable and suspend us like this. This is the 'Ghost Method'. "They'd pull us up and we'd be on our toes - you'd last 30 minutes then you'd pass out." Up to 13,000 prisoners were executed here alone in the first four years of the civil war, according to Amnesty. 'I beat them with all my strength,' said Hussam, a military policeman. 'Our superiors would say, 'Torture them, don't let them sleep at night. Throw them a party… put them in a grave if you want to, bury them alive'. 'When they'd call me to go and torture them, the prisoners would go back to their cells bloody and exhausted.' 'Execution parties' 15 15 Occasionally a prisoner would be dragged out of their cell, finally receiving a respite from the torture. But they were on their way to a secret trial - and death was the usual sentence. 'On Wednesday mornings, we'd have an 'execution party'," Hussam recalled. 'Our role during executions was to place the rope on the prisoner - only an officer could push the chair. 'One time, the chair was pushed, but after 22 minutes he didn't die. So I grabbed him and pulled him downwards, so another guard who was bigger and stronger said, 'Go I will do it.' 'Before he died he said one thing: 'I'm going to tell God what you did'.' The bodies of the dead - be it from execution, torture, or disease - were then taken to military hospitals where their deaths were registered. 'Most of the bodies suffered acute weight loss, resembling a skeleton,' said Kamal, an army nurse. 'Most of them suffered from skin lesions and rashes due to lack of hygiene - and most of them had torture marks." He added: 'It was forbidden to record the cause of death as torture. Even those killed from gunshots were recorded as heart and respiratory failure.' With the bodies piling up, mass graves were the only solution. At least 130 grave sites have been found across Syria so far - but dozens more are believed to be out there, known only to those who dug them out. There is little hope of identification for the thousands dumped there. Many of the guards and officers defected from Assad's regime, joining the rebels or fleeing the country. By 2019, the rebellion had largely been suppressed. Shadi and his brother were released at last, fleeing to exile in Turkey. Then, in December this year, rebel forces overwhelmed Damascus and Assad fled the country and claimed asylum in Russia. With the collapse of the regime, Shadi set to work helping others locate their missing friends and family. But for many there is little hope of ever finding out what really happened to them. 'Everyone, the detainees, and families of the missing, should keep talking about this,' he said. 'All the decision makers who had a role in oppressing the Syrian people escaped, and are now in hiding. 'They've left everybody to pick up the pieces - to deal with what they left behind.' Surviving Syria's Prisons airs tonight on BBC Two at 9pm. 15

US imposes sanctions on alleged sham Palestinian charities
US imposes sanctions on alleged sham Palestinian charities

The Independent

time7 hours ago

  • The Independent

US imposes sanctions on alleged sham Palestinian charities

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on five people and five entities across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, accusing them of being prominent financial supporters of Hamas' military wing under the pretense of conducting humanitarian work in the Gaza Strip and around the world. Those sanctioned include the Gaza-based charity Al Weam Charitable Society, which is accused of being controlled by Hamas, along with its executive director Muhammad Sami Muhammad Abu Marei. Turkey-based charity Filistin Vakfi and its President Zeki Abdullah Ibrahim Ararawi were also targeted for sanctions. Charities in Algeria, the Netherlands and Italy were also targeted for sanctions. The department is also targeting a separate charity linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP. A 2024 Treasury report on terrorist financing highlights how online crowdfunding is increasingly done under the guise of soliciting legitimate charitable donations, making it difficult to identify as terrorist financing. Because the majority of crowdfunding activity is legitimate, 'this status can make it more difficult for law enforcement attempting to investigate potential (terrorist financing) cases with a crowdfunding and online fundraising nexus," the report said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store