French energy giant Total faces war crimes charges over Mozambique massacre

A French energy company faces war crimes charges over a 2021 massacre near a multi-billion-dollar international gas project in northern Mozambique, a charge it denies.

In a complaint filed with French prosecutors, a rights group accused TotalEnergies of war crimes, including the torture and execution of dozens of civilians held by local security forces in a cluster of containers at its factory.

Total has consistently denied responsibility for the actions of government troops and related security forces involved in guarding the development of a gas refinery on the Afungi Peninsula.

This was the largest foreign-invested project in Africa at the time.

The complaint was filed by human rights organization the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).

“Companies and their executives operating in conflict zones are not neutral actors. If they enable or contribute to crime, they may be complicit and should be held accountable,” said Clara González, Director of the European Commission’s Joint Program on Business and Human Rights.

The massacre by Mozambican troops took place in the resource-rich Cabo Delgado province, where government forces are battling violent Islamist militants linked to the Islamic State group, which is known for beheading victims.

March 2021, Islamists attack besieged town of PalmaAlex Perry said they killed or kidnapped 1,563 civilians living near the TotalEnergies gas plant on Mozambique’s remote northern Afunji peninsula.

Investigative journalists first documented the death toll in Palma and later Revenge massacre at entrance to Total compoundPolitico 2024.

Perry called it “the bloodiest disaster in oil and gas history.”

Locals who sought help from the troops at a Total plant were accused of aiding the rebels. The man was forcibly separated from the crowd and locked in a container. It is unclear how many civilians were subsequently killed by Mozambican troops providing security for Total. Perry identified 97 victims, but estimated the true number may be twice that.

“Most people have never heard of any of this, partly because Total doesn’t admit it. Today is a victory for truth and accountability,” Perry told the BBC.

The BBC has contacted TotalEnergies for comment.

The UK Government initially provided financial guarantees to UK companies seeking to participate in unprecedented opportunities to develop Mozambique’s economy.

But environmentalists, who have urged Britain to withdraw after suspending support following the bloodshed in Palma, said the seriousness of the allegations against Total was certainly a “red line” for financial backers of its Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

Lorette Philippe of Friends of the Earth France said Total continues to “show that it has learned nothing from the past: despite the dire security and humanitarian situation, it has just declared force majeure on its gas projects”.

She added that the British and Dutch governments must join Société Générale and Credit Agricole in “rejecting renewal of financial support and withdrawing from Mozambique LNG”.

TotalEnergies is determined to press ahead with the Cabo Delgado mega-project, which backers say is a bold investment that could bring huge returns to a neglected part of Africa.

But critics call it an environmental, ethical and financial disaster. They linked Total’s actions and struggles to those of another French giant, Lafarge, which went on trial in France this month with eight former employees on charges that Paying jihadist groups in Syria to keep local cement plants open.