"In mid-2023, African Parks was made aware of allegations of human rights abuses by eco-guards against the Baka community in Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo. To address these concerns, we engaged Omnia Strategy LLP, a specialist human rights law firm, to conduct an independent investigation. Omnia, in turn, instructed two specialist human rights barristers from Doughty Street Chambers (London), Tim Cooke-Hurle and Jelia Sané, who formed an integral part of Omnia’s independent investigation team. The investigation has now been concluded and Omnia has submitted its findings and recommendations to the Board of African Parks.
"African Parks acknowledges that, in some incidents, human rights abuses have occurred, and we deeply regret the pain and suffering caused to the victims. There is no place for any form of abuse in the name of conservation. Omnia’s investigation also highlighted several failures of our systems and processes that were insufficient for the level of responsibility given to us, particularly in the early years of our management of Odzala. We are committed to rectifying these issues and ensuring the protection of human rights throughout our operations.
"The Board of African Parks has reviewed Omnia’s advice and endorsed the management plan and timeframes to implement the recommendations resulting from this process.
"Specifically, in Odzala, we will take action against staff members implicated in previously unknown incidents or those that had not been adequately dealt with, where sufficient evidence is available. African Parks will define a bespoke framework that will guide provision of remedy in case of human rights breaches. To better understand the risks associated with management of the park, we will run a second human rights impact assessment as a follow up to the study done in 2021.
"At an institutional level, we have established an Independent Panel of eminent African judges and human rights specialists who will be responsible for handling all cases of serious grievances. This panel will also provide oversight of the overall grievance and redress mechanism and advise the Board on human rights matters. We are committed to ensuring a full understanding of human rights risks across all parks, having already conducted assessments in six areas we manage, with plans to complete the remaining areas by next year. We are embedding safeguards across all our operations, through improved policies and procedures including updating our Code of Conduct and Human Rights Statement of Principles.
"The Board of African Parks will continue to monitor progress and publicly report on our initiatives annually. We thank Omnia and Mr. Cooke-Hurle and Ms. Sané for their thorough investigation and recommendations, and we are grateful to all community members, staff, and stakeholders for their cooperation throughout the process."
