Today, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) filed a criminal complaint in France against TotalEnergies (1) for complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearance. The oil and gas major is accused 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. The complaint has been filed with the French National Anti Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), which also has a mandate to investigate international crimes.

This filing comes as TotalEnergies just announced the lifting of the force majeure declared in April 2021 on its liquified natural gas project, Mozambique LNG, despite a persistent conflict, intensifying deadly attacks and a major humanitarian crisis. The final restart of the project however still depends on the Mozambican government agreeing to TotalEnergies’ revised budget and to cover for the $4.5 billion extra cost of the project.

The complaint centers on the so-called "container massacre" at the company’s facility. These allegations were first reported by the newspaper Politico in September 2024, followed by SourceMaterial and Le Monde.

Following an insurgent attack on Palma town by the armed group Al-Shabab in March and April 2021 (2), 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. According to reported allegations, detainees were tortured, subjected to enforced disappearance and some of them executed. In September 2021, the final 26 detainees were released.

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

"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" says Clara Gonzales from ECCHR. "The involvement of TotalEnergies with local armed forces and the gravity of allegations ought to lead to the opening of an investigation by French judicial authorities. 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".

Internal TotalEnergies documents, including from its security contractor, detail acts of violence against civilians committed by Mozambican armed forces from May 2020, revealing that the company was aware of serious human rights violations carried out by the Joint Task Force in close proximity to its facility before the container massacre.

Those documents were obtained through freedom of information requests addressed to public financiers of the project (3). Some have been reported on by Le Monde and SourceMaterial, but the complaint analyzes new documents sent by the Dutch government, in which TotalEnergies details its security system, as well as the human rights risks associated with the employment of the Joint Task Force.

Despite this knowledge, TotalEnergies continued to directly support the Joint Task Force by providing accommodation, food, equipment, and soldier bonuses – while stipulating that bonuses would be withdrawn if soldiers committed human rights violations.

Media investigation sparks official probes

The Politico article prompted investigations by Mozambican authorities, as well as by two public financiers of the project, the UK Export Finance agency and the Dutch government – via Atradius. However, no European judicial investigation has yet been opened.

Lorette Philippot from Friends of the Earth France says: “The seriousness of the allegations against Total, laid out in this criminal complaint, must set a red line for the financial backers of Mozambique LNG. More than 30 public and private banks have decided to place their trust in TotalEnergies in 2020 by signing loans, but they did not sign blank cheques. TotalEnergies continues to demonstrate that it has learned nothing from the past: it just announced the lifting of the force majeure on its gas project, despite the dramatic security and humanitarian situation. The UK and Dutch governments, like the French banks Société Générale and Crédit Agricole, must now refuse to renew their financial support and withdraw from Mozambique LNG.”

Daniel Ribeiro from Justiça Ambiental says: "The local communities have experienced repeated violations of their human rights, yet to date have received no justice. The perpetrators of these crimes have not faced any consequences. This case is an important step toward justice, where the business interests of a company like TotalEnergies do not override the rights and lives of local people".

Second complaint against TotalEnergies regarding its Mozambique LNG project

This case follows another criminal complaint filed in 2023 by survivors and relatives of victims of the March and April 2021 Palma attack, in which TotalEnergies is separately accused of failing to ensure the safety of its subcontractors who were targeted, and for some of them killed. In March 2025, the Prosecutor in Nanterre opened a preliminary investigation against TotalEnergies on charges of manslaughter and failure to assist persons in danger.

Companies can be held criminally liable: in France, the Lafarge case has led to the indictment of the company and executives for complicity in crimes against humanity committed by ISIS in Syria, and an on-going trial for terrorism financing in front of Paris court. In Sweden, a trial is also taking place against two former executives at the Swedish oil company Lundin for complicity in war crimes committed by Sudan’s regime – now South Sudan.

Beyond its association with numerous accusations of human rights violations, the project could contribute to emit up to 4.5 billion tons of CO₂ equivalent over its lifetime, making it one of the carbon bombs threatening the Paris Agreement’s goals.

Notes

(1) And against “X”: unknown persons that are not identified in the complaint but could be during the criminal investigation, such as executives of the company.

(2) Al-Shabab is a non-state armed group, active since 2017 in the northern region of Mozambique, Cabo Delgado. It is officially affiliated to the Islamic state since May 2022, and also designated as “Islamic State Mozambique (ISM)”.

(3) The Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Italy’s public development bank, and ATRADIUS, Netherlands’ public development bank.

Notes to editors

• Friends of the Earth Mozambique (Justiça Ambiental), Friends of the Earth France and Friends of the Earth Europe, who have been engaged for years in a campaign against human rights violations associated with the TotalEnergies Mozambique LNG project, are supporting the legal action.
• This case builds on ECCHR’s ongoing casework on corporate accountability in conflict. More information on the ECCHR’s case against Lafarge in Syria for complicity in crimes against humanity can be found here.