TotalEnergies Under Fire: War Crimes Allegations After Mozambique Massacre
TotalEnergies is facing mounting legal and human rights pressure after being accused of complicity in war crimes related to a massacre in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. The allegations stem from events surrounding the 2021 jihadist attack on Palma, a town near the multibillion-dollar Mozambique LNG project operated by the company.
Several survivors and families of victims have filed a criminal complaint in France, accusing Total of involuntary manslaughter and failing to assist people in danger. They claim the company did not provide adequate protection for subcontracted workers who were caught in the attack and that it refused to supply fuel to private rescuers who were attempting to evacuate those trapped in a hotel as militants advanced.
A separate and more serious complaint has been filed by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. The group alleges that Mozambican security forces, responsible for protecting the LNG site, committed grave abuses including torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Since TotalEnergies helped finance these forces and supported their operations, the organization argues the company may be complicit in war crimes.
Mozambique’s National Human Rights Commission has launched an investigation after reports surfaced describing villagers being detained in shipping containers, beaten, and starved by soldiers in the vicinity of Afungi. Mozambique’s Attorney General has also opened a criminal inquiry into the allegations.
TotalEnergies has firmly denied any wrongdoing. The company says it had no prior knowledge of the alleged abuses and that its own internal verifications found no evidence supporting reports of a massacre linked to the project. It maintains that it acted responsibly during the Palma attack, highlighting that it provided emergency support, evacuation assistance, fuel, medical help and food to thousands of civilians and workers.