Prince Harry has been advised to resign from his role at a charity that has come under scrutiny over allegations that staff raped and tortured locals in the Republic of Congo. independent the report said.

Security personnel employed and funded by African Parks face accusations of human rights abuses, including physical assault, sexual assault and torture against the indigenous Baka people who live in the rainforest.

Related African charity Africa Parks said it was actively investigating the initial mail on Sunday.

The Duke of Sussex currently serves on the nonprofit’s board of directors, having previously held the position of chairman.

The charity, which oversees 22 national parks and reserves in 12 countries, declared its ongoing investigation a “highest priority” and urged anyone with information about any wrongdoing to come forward.

Founded in 2000 with a mission to protect Africa’s national parks and promote wildlife conservation, Africa Parks manages more than 20 million hectares of protected areas to make each park “ecologically, socially and financially sustainable in the long term”

Fiore Longo, head of the Survival International conservation campaign, said the latest spate of accusations was not surprising as cases of abuse had been common in the area for years.

She said: “With the arrival of colonial reserves, many local people have been evicted.

“But especially around 2010, after African Parks took over, locals said the violence started to be worse than before because every time they tried to enter the forest (their home) to collect medicinal plants, park rangers would beat them up. Hunting and feeding their families. So everything they do for a living now is crime.”

Ms Longo told The Independent she had heard from colleagues about cases of local women being raped, men having their heads buried in rivers and some being burned with hot wax and whipped.

Elaene customs Molybdenum disulfide Three years ago, she was raped by a guard while holding her 4-week-old baby.

After she complained about the man, her attacker was fired and subsequently jailed, but he only spent two months in jail.

The newspaper also reported that a man was tortured by guards for collecting honey for his family.

Human rights campaigners said they raised concerns with the Duke of Sussex last May.

Survival International said it initially received a sympathetic response from the duke within two weeks and promised to escalate concerns, The Independent reported.

Survival International’s campaign director Fiore Longo said they had received no further updates. She told The Times, “He said he was taking it seriously, but it didn’t achieve the change we wanted to see. Then, very disappointingly, we learned that Harry had joined the board. “

When the Duke was appointed to the board, Africa Parks praised him as a “humanitarian, veteran mental health advocate and environmentalist” [who] He dedicated his life to advancing the causes he was passionate about and making a lasting difference to people and places.”

“We want him to be the human rights activist he’s supposed to be,” Longo said. “Harry talks about social justice. He’s spoken out about racism in the past. He’s now entering the world of directing. When you say your name for a As far as the organization is concerned, you are part of the organization. If a human rights violation occurs, you must take action.

“We hope that his departure from the board will send a clear signal to the organization that human rights abuses in the name of protection will no longer be tolerated.”

Archewell, a spokesman for Prince Harry’s Foundation, told the Daily Mail: “When the Duke became aware of these serious allegations, he immediately escalated them to the chief executive and chairman of the board of African Parks, who were responsible for dealing with the next steps. The right person for action.”

“Africa Parks has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of abuse and is committed to upholding local and indigenous rights,” the board and chief executive of Africa Parks said in a statement.

“Allegations of misconduct will be thoroughly investigated and action taken, and all our parks are managed with a core philosophy of awareness, sensitivity and commitment to safeguarding the rights of local people.

“We are aware of serious allegations of human rights abuses by Ecoguardians near the Ozala-Kokua National Park in the Republic of Congo, which have recently received media attention.

“We became aware of the allegations last year through a board member who received a letter from Survival International.

“We immediately launched an investigation through an external law firm based on the information we had and are urging Survival International to provide any facts they have.

“Unfortunately, despite our repeated requests, they have chosen not to cooperate and we will continue to ask for their help.

“This is an active, ongoing investigation that is our top priority as an organization and we encourage anyone with knowledge of any abuse to report it to us or Congolese law enforcement authorities who will assist with the investigation and ensure that any abuses committed by the perpetrators are dealt with Bring him to justice.”