Congo national park associated with Prince Harry acknowledges human rights abuses
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A national park associated with Prince Harry in the Republic of the Congo has acknowledged that its guards committed human rights abuses against Indigenous peoples who were displaced when the park was constructed.
An internal investigation by African Parks, a South African-based wildlife parks consortium, uncovered cases of torture, rape and forced displacement of Indigenous people who used to inhabit the land now occupied by the Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
Prince Harry sits on the board of African Parks.
'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,' read a statement released Thursday by the group and London-based law firm Omnia Strategy.
The initial reports of the abuse, which allegedly took place in 2023, were raised by international rights group Survival International. The allegations were investigated, but the final report of the abuse remains confidential and many details remain unclear.
The rights group said Thursday in a statement that men and women were beaten, tortured or raped 'by rangers who are managed and paid for by African Parks.' It did not provide details.
Jonathan Mazower, a spokesperson for Survival International, alleged that African Parks has known since at 'least 2013' of cases of abuse when a researcher raised the issue with them.
'This is not a particularly isolated case,' he said.
Founded in 2000, African Parks established a hard-nosed reputation by going into seriously degraded places armed with the right to hire and fire from governments, which retained broad authority but respected a clear separation of roles.
The group assumes day-to-day management of countries' wildlife areas, seeking more efficiency and accountability in the campaign to protect flora and fauna from poaching and habitat depletion. Many partner nations struggle to run parks on their own, challenged by poverty, corruption and conflict.
___
Louis Patrick Okamba contributed from Brazzaville
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