Maputo, 19 Nov (AIM) – The European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) has filed a criminal complaint against the French oil and gas company, Total Energies, for alleged complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearances against civilians in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, where the company heads the Mozambique LNG Project, located on the Afungi peninsula, in Palma district.
The LNG project, which is budgeted at around 20 billion dollars, was suspended in 2021, when Total Energies declared a state of “force majeure” following a major terrorist attack against Palma town. However, last October, the company announced the lifting of the “force majeure” and the resumption of the LNG project.
The criminal complaint, which was filed in France, claims that “the company directly financed and materially supported the Joint Task Force, set up by the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM), which between July and September 2021 allegedly detained, tortured and killed dozens of civilians on TotalEnergies’ gas site. The complaint has been filed with the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), which also has a mandate to investigate international crimes.”
“This filing comes as TotalEnergies just announced the lifting of the force majeure declared in April 2021 on its liquefied natural gas project, Mozambique LNG, despite a persistent conflict, intensifying deadly attacks and major humanitarian crisis. The final restart of the project however still depends on the Mozambican government agreeing to TotalEnergies’ revised budget to cover the 4.5 billion US dollars claimed as the extra cost of the project”, reads the ECCR note.
The complaint centres on the so-called “container massacre” at the company’s facility. These allegations were first reported by the newspaper Politico in September 2024, followed by SourceMaterial and “Le Monde”.
The JTF allegedly kept dozens of civilians in metallic containers, where they were starved, beaten and tortured. At least five people were killed, and several are still missing.
“The civilians were fleeing their home villages as a result of attacks by Al-Shabab (as the jihadists are known in Cabo Delgado) when they were intercepted by the army. According to reported allegations, detainees were tortured, subjected to enforced disappearance and some of them executed. In September 2021, the final 26 detainees were released”, reads the statement.
The Joint Task Force was established through a 2020 memorandum between TotalEnergies’ Mozambique subsidiary and the Mozambican government as a dedicated security unit to protect the Mozambique LNG project operations.
According to the ECCHR, TotalEnergies knew that the Mozambican forces had been accused of systematic human rights violations yet continued to support them with the sole purpose of securing its own facility.
“The involvement of TotalEnergies with local armed forces and the gravity of allegations ought to lead to the opening of an investigation by the French judicial authorities. Companies and their executives are not neutral actors when they operate in conflict zones: if they enable or fuel crimes, they might be complicit and should be held accountable”, said Clara Gonzales from ECCHR, cited in the document.
(AIM)
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