Mozambique: TotalEnergies was aware of the massacres of civilians committed near its liquefied natural gas site

During the summer of 2021, a village on the Afungi peninsula in northern Mozambique was the scene of a bloodbath. Soldiers, responsible for protecting a production site of the oil giant TotalEnergies, fired into the crowd. 97 people were killed that day: 75 men and 22 women, including 26 who disappeared from the scene, 12 whose bodies were found in containers, while others were shot or beaten to death.

Between 80 and 150 additional victims « have not been identified »explained journalist Alexander Perry, who revealed the affair for the specialized media Politico at the end of September. Afterwards, the TotalEnergies group publicly claimed to have no knowledge of this massacre committed by the Joint Task Force, an alliance of Mozambican armed forces.

Soldiers paid for two years

However, according to information from Monderevealed in an article published this Sunday, November 24, the French company knew about the abuses committed by Mozambican soldiers. The internal documents revealed by the daily even show that the energy group deliberately continued to pay certain incriminated soldiers for two years.

As a reminder, TotalEnergies owns a liquefied natural gas site in the province of Cabo Delgado, located in the northeast of the country. The project, valued at 23 billion euros, had been suspended by the group for several years. The French multinational then pretended to discover and suffer the violence to which the country was suffering, forcing it to cease its activities.

Following the Politico article, the group even announced that it had asked Mozambique’s attorney general to open an investigation. Maxime Rabilloud, general manager of Mozambique LNG, the subsidiary of TotalEnergies in the country, declared at the time that his company had not “no knowledge of the alleged events described” in “no information indicating that such events took place”. He also indicated that the company was not present on the ground at the time of the murders, having entrusted the site to Mozambican security forces. “Nevertheless, given the seriousness of the allegations, we take your message very seriously”he finally added.

According to documents consulted by the Worldthe energy group had already heard of complaints for extortion or disappearances, all registered in « quarterly social reports written by the Mozambique LNG teams ». These are then transmitted to the public financiers of the program, here the Italian Export Credit Agency (SACE).

“Since April 2, local residents have regularly reported human rights violations committed by the Joint Task Force (restriction of freedom of movement, extortion, violence, arrests, disappearances),” lists for example one of these reports, dated September 2021 and covering events that took place in April of the same year. Another report, from March 2022, reported that « two fishermen were beaten to death on March 26 by soldiers.”

550 families forced to move

Above all, the situation in Mozambique left little doubt as to possible violence against the population. To free up the space necessary for exploitation, more than 550 families were forced to move and abandon their land, their access to the sea and their means of subsistence, explained Lorette Philippot, campaign manager for the NGO. Friends of the Earth Humanity.

In addition, the population of the northeast of the country was already in the grip of a deadly war against jihadist groups. The inhabitants thus found themselves caught between the insurgents, the private military and paramilitary forces, the multinational and its subcontractors. “All these risks were already present and highlighted by civil society and NGOs. This industry really participated in igniting this conflict”explained Lorette Philippot. Joined by the editorial staff of MondeTotalEnergies explained that it had indeed ended its agreement with the armed groups of the Joint Task Force… but in October 2023.