Prince Harry Urged to Step Down from African Parks Board amid Reports of Abuse, Rape by Rangers

African Parks issued a statement saying that an “active, ongoing investigation” into the claims was its “highest priority”

Prince Harry is being called to step down from the board of African Parks amid a report that its rangers raped, beat and tortured indigenous people in Africa.

On Saturday, the Mail on Sunday published an investigation claiming that guards employed by African Parks abused the Baka people in the Republic of the Congo. Members of the indigenous group once known as pygmies live in Odzala-Kokoua National Park claim that the guards have stopped them from entering forests where they have “foraged, fished, hunted and found medicines for millennia” by violent means, the outlet reports.

According to the Mail on Sunday, community activists allege a Baka man died after being beaten and jailed without medical care, while a woman said she was raped by an armed guard while holding her newborn baby. Other allegations include a teen boy who claimed he was groomed for prostitution by another guard, a man who said he was whipped with a belt while his head was forced under water and claims that medical staff were “subjected to intimidation to cover up abuse.” The Mail on Sunday did not disclose when these alleged atrocities took place.

Prince Harry, 39, got involved with African Parks in 2016 and became president of the non-profit conservation group that manages national parks across the continent the following year. In 2023, after serving six years as president, he was elevated to an officially appointed member of the Board of Directors, the governing body of the organization.