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Mozambique needs “very concrete data” on criminal complaint filed against TotalEnergies – Government
4:37 CAT | 19 Nov 2025
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Folha de Maputo]
The Mozambican Government said on Tuesday it requires “very concrete data” before taking a position on the criminal complaint against TotalEnergies, accused of “complicity in war crimes” allegedly committed at its gas site in Cabo Delgado, promising to monitor the case closely.
“We understand that we need to have very concrete data to make a critical decision regarding any entity cooperating with our State,” said the spokesperson for the Council of Ministers, Inocêncio Impissa, when questioned by journalists at the end of yesterday’s meeting, emphasising that this is “a matter of sovereignty.”
“We will certainly remain vigilant to monitor and see what actually happens,” he added.
A human rights non-profit filed on Monday in France a criminal complaint accusing TotalEnergies of “complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearance” against civilian in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.
In a statement, Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) accuses the oil major of “having directly financed and materially supported the Joint Task Force, composed of Mozambican armed forces, which between July and September 2021, allegedly detained, tortured and killed dozens of civilians on TotalEnergies’ gas site.”
Impissa yesterday pointed out that this information was “new” and that the government wants official data on the case, so as not to make decisions based on speculation.
“We will continue to monitor, pursue information to understand exactly what this is, and at the same time assess to what extent this influences our relationship with this and other entities,” he said, concluding: “Depending on the gravity, if that is the case, the country, the Government, will naturally take a position.”
The ECCHR states it filed the complaint with the French National Anti Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), which also has a mandate to investigate international crimes. adding that it “centers on the so-called “container massacre” at the company’s facility.” in Cabo Delgado, allegations initially reported by Politico newspaper in September 2024.
“Following an insurgent attack on Palma town by the armed group Al-Shabab** in March and April 2021, the Mozambican army – including members of the Joint Task Force supported by TotalEnergies – allegedly arbitrarily detained dozens of civilians in metal containers situated at the facility entrance between July and September 2021. The civilians were fleeing their home villages as a result of attacks by Al-Shabab when they were intercepted by the army,” the ECCHR statement reads.
According to “reported allegations,” the detainees were “tortured, subjected to enforced disappearance and some of them executed,” with the final 26 released in September 2021.
“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.. TotalEnergies knew of human rights violations committed by armed forces before massacre,” the statement reads.
The complaint follows TotalEnergies’ notification to the Mozambican Government on 24 October of the lifting of the ‘force majeure’ declared in April 2021, which had suspended its US$20 billion (EUR17.2 billion) Mozambique LNG megaproject due to terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, now in the process of resumption.
Mozambique’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) began in June an investigation into alleged human rights abuses by military forces in Cabo Delgado during the 2021 terrorist attacks, the commission’s president announced at the time.
TotalEnergies stated on 27 March that the Mozambique LNG consortium would fully cooperate with the Mozambican Attorney General’s investigation into the alleged human rights violations in the province.
Mozambique probes claims of army atrocities near TotalEnergies site
TotalEnergies hit with lawsuit over 2021 Mozambique jihadist massacre – AFP
Source: Lusa
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