By Sammy Jones-
French energy giant TotalEnergies is facing serious allegations of complicity in war crimes, torture, and enforced disappearances in Mozambique, brought forward by a European human rights organisation.
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) has lodged a criminal complaint in France, claiming that Mozambican government forces, under a security arrangement linked to Total’s gas facility, detained, tortured, and killed dozens of civilians between July and September 2021.
The accusations revolve around what has become known as the “container massacre”, a grim episode in which displaced civilians — many fleeing Islamist insurgents — were reportedly locked in metal shipping containers at the entrance of Total’s LNG (liquefied natural gas) facility. According to the complaint, detainees suffered beatings, starvation, enforced disappearance, and even summary execution.
The ECCHR filed the criminal complaint on 17 November 2025 with the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), which handles international crimes. The organisation argues that TotalEnergies was far from a neutral actor. By providing financial and logistical support to a Joint Task Force (JTF) — Mozambican soldiers tasked with guarding its gas project — the company allegedly enabled serious human rights violations.
Internal documents obtained by the ECCHR reportedly show that Total was aware of recurring abuses by the JTF as early as May 2020. According to the complaint, Total “knew that the Mozambican armed forces had been accused of systematic human-rights violations, yet continued to support them … to secure its own facility.”
The “Container Massacre”
The core of the complaint focuses on horrifying allegations first reported by Politico, Le Monde, and investigative journalists. After a major insurgent attack in Palma in northern Mozambique during March–April 2021, many villagers fled their homes. Some of these displaced civilians were allegedly intercepted by Mozambican security forces and detained in shipping containers at Total’s facility on the Afungi peninsula.
Inside the containers, detainees reportedly endured three months of abuse, including suffocation, starvation, beatings, and other forms of inhuman treatment. Only a fraction survived; many are claimed to have never been seen again, while others were executed.
TotalEnergies set up the JTF under a 2020 memorandum of understanding with the Mozambican government to protect its LNG infrastructure. The ECCHR alleges that Total contributed financially to the salaries of the soldiers forming the JTF and continued to back them despite credible reports of abuse.
Mozambique’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has opened its own investigation, emphasizing that reports of “summary execution, torture and other cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment” must be taken seriously. Meanwhile, the country’s Defense Ministry issued a statement expressing willingness for “a transparent and impartial investigation.”
In France, the PNAT must now decide whether to pursue a full criminal investigation. If the case is accepted, TotalEnergies could face serious judicial consequences, and its executives might be held personally accountable. The ECCHR notes that under international law, companies that support military units in conflict zones may be criminally liable if those units commit war crimes.
Previous Controversies: Manslaughter and Negligence
The war-crimes complaint is not Total’s first legal challenge in Mozambique. In March 2025, French prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into involuntary manslaughter and non-assistance to persons in danger, following a 2021 jihadist attack in Palma. During that assault, militants linked to Islamic State killed dozens, including civilians and Total subcontractors.
Families of victims, many from the UK and South Africa, accused Total of failing to adequately warn or protect subcontracted workers, and of denying vital support during rescue operations. One claim alleges that Total refused to provide aviation fuel to helicopters evacuating people under attack.
TotalEnergies has strongly denied wrongdoing, stating that its teams “provided emergency aid, medical care, and evacuated more than 2,500 people” during the crisis.
Business, Conflict, and Accountability
This case highlights a growing paradigm: multinational companies operating in unstable regions are increasingly held accountable not only for environmental harm but for enabling or sustaining violence. Experts argue that companies that financially support or operate jointly with local forces cannot claim neutrality when those forces abuse their power.
Clara Gonzalez of ECCHR stated: “Companies are not neutral actors when they operate in conflict zones … when they support security forces, they may be complicit in crimes.” The complaint reflects a broader trend of holding corporations accountable under international law, not just states.
For TotalEnergies, the stakes are substantial. Its Mozambique LNG project, valued at around US$20 billion, is one of the company’s flagship investments in Africa. Allegations of mass violence at its doorstep could severely damage its reputation and hinder efforts to restart the plant.
TotalEnergies, however, maintains that it had “no knowledge of the alleged events described” in the complaint and insists it “does not have any information indicating that such events took place.” Yet the company has signaled caution: despite the lifting of force majeure on the Mozambique LNG project, Total says operations will resume under strict security protocols, with personnel only allowed by sea or air. The future of the project — and Total’s broader presence in the region — remains uncertain.
Human Toll and Wider Implications
At the center of these allegations are civilians, displaced Mozambicans who fled insurgent violence only to allegedly fall victim to the very forces hired to protect Total’s facilities. If proven, the ECCHR complaint could expose a chilling dynamic: people trapped between jihadist militants and a militarized private security apparatus of a global energy company.
For Mozambique, the case raises questions about sovereignty, accountability, and the costs of foreign capital. For the international community, it is a test: can transnational justice mechanisms hold mega-corporations accountable when profit, power, and conflict intersect?
Proving complicity in war crimes and torture is notoriously difficult, particularly with private-sector actors and foreign judicial systems involved. The PNAT must evaluate internal documents, financial records, and correspondence that could demonstrate not only negligence but active facilitation.
Meanwhile, investigations in Mozambique may face challenges due to political pressure, limited resources, and ongoing conflict. Civil society groups and foreign investors are watching closely as the CNDH continues its inquiries.
A Potential Watershed Moment
This complaint could mark a turning point: the first time a major energy multinational faces formal war-crime allegations for directly supporting a state security force, accused not merely of failing to prevent violence but of allegedly enabling it.
TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG project represents a crown jewel of African energy infrastructure, promising enormous revenue. Yet with that ambition comes exposure. As the ECCHR asserts, “if they enable or fuel crimes, they might be complicit and should be held accountable.”
Whether justice is served, whether the voices of detainees, survivors, and their families are heard will test international norms, and the limits of the law when profit, power, and violence collide.
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