Prince Harry’s African conservation charity is facing renewed allegations of torture and rape.
A former park ranger has admitted that he tied up and beat suspects, sometimes using a horrific torture technique called ‘the swing.’
The allegations of rape and abuse by Zambian African Park rangers first became public knowledge back in January. At the time Harry was urged to quit the charity….
But now additional accusations have been published in a book called Entrepreneurs in the Wild by Dutch journalist Olivier van Beemen who spent three years investigating the charity.
TGP reports: Van Beemen’s book tells how African Parks once debated whether Harry could pose a reputational risk to them, but now it clearly seems to be the other way around, as allegations against the charity have caused a reputational crisis for Harry.
Former ranger Foster Kalunga explained the torture method called kampelwa – or ‘swing.’
Newsweek reported:
“‘Sometimes we use kampelwa’, said Kalunga, a ranger in Liuwa Plain national park for five years until 2022. ‘Then you tie someone up, hands and feet tied together, behind his back, and you hang him on a stick between two branches. And then you spin him around while you hit him. It doesn’t last long because it hurts a lot. When he hangs there he says everything you want, even things he doesn’t know’.
African Parks told Newsweek in a statement: ‘The book is replete with hundreds of factual inaccuracies and a similar number of intentionally misleading statements, which reflect the author’s own prejudices and his confirmation bias to paint a negative account of African Parks. In particular, his accounts of alleged human rights abuses are deeply flawed and based on statements taken from accused criminal offenders and dismissed employees, or relate to incidents that have no relation to African Parks. African Parks has a strict zero tolerance policy for any form of human rights abuse, and we deeply regret any violations that might occur’.”
Kalunga, African Parks have stated, was discharged for ‘gross misconduct’ after assaulting a senior officer.
The charity also said that no records or knowledge exist of ‘kampelwa’ being used by the rangers under their management.
Prince Harry was president of the NGO before being promoted to its board of directors last year, a position that awards him responsibility for policy.
“When news of the scandal first broke in January, Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation said in a statement: ‘When the Duke became aware of these serious allegations, he immediately escalated them to the CEO and chairman of the board of African Parks, the appropriate people to handle next steps.’”