Prince Harry’s charity African Parks confirms multiple abuses, following investigation
May 8, 2025
© SUSSEX.COM
An investigation into reports of atrocities by guards employed by Prince Harry’s charity African Parks has acknowledged that multiple abuses took place, confirming allegations of violence made by Baka people.
The investigation was carried out by Cherie Blair’s law firm Omnia Strategy, after complaints by Survival International, and a major report by UK newspaper the Mail on Sunday.
Survival had been calling on African Parks to put a stop to years of abuse by their guards against Indigenous Baka people whose ancestral land has been taken over by Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo, which is managed by African Parks.
One Baka man told the Mail on Sunday’s Ian Birrell: “African Parks are killing us slowly. We’re suffering so much that we might as well be dead.”
Prince Harry, formerly President of African Parks, was elevated to the Board in 2023.
African Parks has refused to make Omnia’s report public, nor allowed Omnia to do so, but has issued a short response to it.
Survival International’s Director Caroline Pearce said today: “Omnia’s investigation has confirmed that multiple abuses have taken place against the Indigenous Baka people.
“Baka men and women have been beaten, tortured and raped in Odzala-Kokoua National Park by rangers who are managed and paid for by African Parks. The charity has known this for many years, but it was only after Survival complained to Prince Harry, and the ensuing global media story, that the charity finally commissioned this “independent investigation.”
“We still don’t know the details of what they found, because African Parks has refused to allow the findings to be made public. It has committed to more reports, more staff and more guidelines – but such approaches have not prevented horrific abuses and violations of international human rights law in the decade or more that African Parks has known of these atrocities, and there is no reason to believe they will do so now.
“The root of the problem – which the investigation did not address – is that African Parks continues to cling to a racist and colonial model of conservation which kicks out the Indigenous people whose land it is, while outsiders take control. As long as this is the case, the Baka will continue to face abuses and the destruction of their livelihoods. The Baka are the forest's best guardians: governments, foundations, and celebrity supporters like Prince Harry, should pull the plug on African Parks now, and stop their complicity in this crime.”
