French energy company Total is facing war crimes allegations over a massacre near its multi-billion dollar international gas project in northern Mozambique back in 2021.
A human rights group accused TotalEnergies of complicity in war crimes, including the torture and execution of dozens of civilians held by local security forces in a cluster of shipping containers at its facility, in a complaint filed with French prosecutors.
As it has always done, Total says it is not responsible for the actions of government troops and other security forces involved in guarding the Afungi peninsula gas refinery development.
RELATED STORIES
READ ALSO: With 2026 election looming, Benin adopts major political overhaul
At the time, this was the largest foreign investment project in Africa. The complaint was filed by a human rights group called the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).
“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, the ECCHR’s co-programme director for business and human rights.
The massive killings by Mozambican forces took place in resource-rich Cabo Delgado province, where state troops were battling violent Islamist militants, linked to the Islamic State group, with a troubling reputation for beheading victims.
Islamists attacked the besieged town of Palma, where they killed or kidnapped 1,563 civilians living next to TotalEnergies’ gas plant on Mozambique’s remote northern Afungi peninsula back in 2021, per investigative journalist Alex Perry.
Perry first documented the Palma death toll, and the subsequent reprisal massacre at the entrance to Total’s compound, for Politico in 2024, according to the BBC. He went on to describe it as the “bloodiest disaster in oil and gas history“.
Locals who sought aid from the forces at the Total facility were accused of aiding the insurgents, as men were separated from the group by force and held in shipping containers.
Up until now, the exact number of civilians killed by Mozambican forces providing security for Total remains unclear. Perry identified 97 victims, yet estimates the true figure could be double that.
“Most people have never heard about any of this, in part because Total has acknowledged none of it. Today is a victory for truth, and accountability,” Perry told the BBC.
The British government initially offered financial guarantees for UK companies seeking to take part in what was heralded as an unprecedented opportunity for economic development in Mozambique.
READ ALSO: Mamdani looks to meet Trump in bid to tackle New York’s affordability strain
However, following the suspension of support after the massacre in Palma, Britain is now being reportedly told to walk away by environmental campaigners, who claim the magnitude of the allegations against Total must be a “red line” for the financial backers of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique.
