A Berlin-based human rights organisation has filed a criminal complaint in France accusing energy giant TotalEnergies of complicity in war crimes, including torture and enforced disappearances, linked to its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) lodged the complaint on 17 November 2025 with France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT).
The centre’s filing centers on a troubling episode between July and September 2021, when Mozambican soldiers deployed to guard TotalEnergies’ Afungi LNG site allegedly detained, tortured, and executed dozens of civilians. These soldiers, part of a Joint Task Force (JTF) established under an agreement with Total, reportedly held fleeing residents in metal shipping containers near the gas facility. ECCHR claims that only about 26 of the approximately 150 people detained survived.
Internal documents obtained by ECCHR suggest that TotalEnergies was aware of serious abuses by the Mozambican forces long before the “container massacre.” According to the NGO, these include reports of violence, disappearances, and killings dating back to May 2020.
ECCHR argues that despite these warnings, TotalEnergies continued to support the JTF — providing not just financial backing, but also equipment, lodging, food, and bonus payments to the soldiers.
In its statement, ECCHR’s Clara Gonzales said: “TotalEnergies knew that the Mozambican armed forces had been accused of systematic human rights violations, yet continued to support them with the only objective to secure its own facility.”
The NGO emphasised that companies operating in conflict zones “are not neutral actors” and can be held criminally liable if they enable or fuel crimes.
TotalEnergies strongly denies the allegations. Its Mozambican subsidiary, Mozambique LNG, told ECCHR that it had “no knowledge” of the alleged abuses and that it lacked any information indicating such events occurred.
The company has further stated it invited the Mozambican Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) to investigate the claims — a commission that began its own review in March 2025.
The fallout comes as TotalEnergies seeks to resume its $20 billion LNG project in Mozambique. The company recently lifted the force majeure order that halted work after a violent jihadist attack in March 2021.
But ECCHR warns that restarting operations without accountability would amount to “business as usual” in a highly volatile zone.
Meanwhile, investigations are underway on multiple fronts. The Mozambican Attorney General’s Office has opened a criminal probe into the claims.
Export credit agencies from the UK and the Netherlands, which finance the LNG project, are also reportedly reviewing the abuse allegations.
This marks the second major legal challenge TotalEnergies has faced in relation to the Mozambique project. In 2023, families and survivors of a 2021 Islamist-militant attack on Palma filed a separate complaint in France, accusing the company of failing to protect its subcontractors and prevent a large number of deaths.
