An African charity of which Prince Harry is a director is facing further allegations of human rights abuses that include extrajudicial killings and violent beatings.
New allegations of brutality in Zambia by rangers jointly managed by African Parks have emerged following the MoS’ front-page report in January about armed guards involved in the beating, rape and torture of Baka tribesmen in the Republic of Congo.
The charity – which manages parks in 12 African countries with 1,400 rangers patrolling protected land almost the size of the UK – claims it is saving wildlife by working with local communities.
And before the allegations were made, Prince Harry, the charity’s president for six years until he joined the board last year, boasted: ‘The African Parks model is exactly what conservation should be about – putting people at the heart of the solution.’
But now allegations of brutality have emerged in Zambia’s Bangweulu Wetlands, a conservation area almost the size of Devon that is home to 50,000 indigenous people who have the right to ‘sustainably harvest’ natural resources such as fish, antelope and rabbits.
Prince Harry, wearing an African Parks cap, watches an anti-poaching demonstration exercise in 2019
New allegations of brutality in Zambia by rangers jointly managed by African parks have emerged
Farmer Chanda Mwewa was among 48 people shot at a market
African Parks has managed the area since 2008 in collaboration with the government and six local chiefs. The charity says it is its only project where management responsibilities are not fully integrated, with conservation law enforcement remaining under the oversight of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife.
While it is not clear exactly who carried out the attacks in Zambia, an investigation by this newspaper has found evidence that in September 2021, a market square was sprayed with gunfire that left dozens of villagers injured, including young children.
Poor people in Bangweulu, one of Africa’s most important wetlands, now say they are suffering a campaign of intimidation to stop them fishing and hunting on their own land as tourists arrive on safari expeditions that can cost up to £5,000 a the day.
“Our home has become a nightmare that scares us every day,” said Luni Elo, who was shot during the attack at the Muwele village market. Farmer Chipulu Mwale, 23, who was also injured, pleaded for African Parks to leave: ‘They have turned this place into hell.’
African Parks insists it has ‘zero tolerance’ for human rights abuses and has hired Cherie Blair’s law firm to investigate the MoS’s original claims that rangers in the Congo beat, raped and tortured locals.
The MoS has seen minutes of the largest council of chiefs meetings, which record allegations of ‘extrajudicial killings, mutilation, severe beatings and torture’. The document says that ’12 people have been shot and killed’ and that poaching suspects are ‘paraded naked in front of their families and neighbours’. Newton Ng’uni, the council chairman, claimed the cases included a man who was killed after being caught fishing. “They just beat him – but not a single ranger has been jailed,” he said.
Villagers in Muwele claim the shooting happened after rangers arrested a man found with antelope meat and then chased another suspect into the village in violation of an agreement with the community. This sparked protests and stone-throwing that damaged vehicles, including two belonging to African Parks.
The Ministry of Tourism said law enforcement officers ‘fired warning shots to disperse the villagers’. Locals claim that 48 people were injured, including five women and three children. “I was hit in the arm,” said farmer Chanda Mwewa. ‘The pain was excruciating.’
The charity claims it saves wildlife by working with local communities
African Parks insists it has ‘zero tolerance’ for human rights abuse and has hired Cherie Blair’s law firm to investigate the MoS’s original allegations
Poor people in Bangweulu, one of Africa’s most important wetlands, now say they are suffering a campaign of intimidation to stop them fishing and hunting
A government minister told Zambia’s parliament that ‘moderate force’ was being used on ‘rebellious’ and ‘irritated residents’. And African Parks said incidents had been reported to the criminal justice system and rangers were found to have acted in self-defence ‘due to armed threats from suspected poachers’.
“This is our way of life – what they call poaching is just fishing or hunting,” said one man. Sturburn Chuma, co-founder of Zambian campaign group Action For Nature, said: ‘We agree with conservation, but people still need something to put on the table.’ African Parks admitted in its 2022 annual report that it had seen “a number of unfortunate interactions… between residents and the park rangers which have led to both injuries and deaths”.
Fiore Longo, campaign director for Survival International, which campaigns for indigenous peoples’ rights, said: ‘This is yet another case of abuse and violence, allegedly in the name of conservation.’
Her group wrote to Prince Harry in May about ‘appalling human rights abuses’ in Congo’s Odzala-Kokoua National Park. Harry’s spokesman said the Duke “immediately escalated” the allegations to the chairman and chief executive of African Parks.
The charity told this newspaper that none of the investigation teams had yet visited the park. There is no indication that Harry had any knowledge of the allegations about what happened in Zambia.
African Parks said: “While there have been incidents which we condemn, it would be false to suggest that African Parks is responsible for structural wrongdoing in the area.”