BERLIN, November 18. . The German NGO European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) has filed a complaint with the French Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT), accusing the French energy company TotalEnergies of being involved in torture and kidnapping in Mozambique.
“On November 17, 2025, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights filed a complaint against TotalEnergies for complicity in war crimes, torture and forced kidnapping,” the organization said in a press release.
The ECCHR alleges that a joint task force formed from the Mozambican armed forces protecting TotalEnergies facilities “forcibly detained, tortured and killed dozens of civilians” between July and September 2021. In particular, it is alleged that dozens of people were kept in metal crates on the territory of the company's facilities. The ECCHR claims that TotalEnergies' internal documents contain reports of “acts of violence against citizens committed by the Mozambican armed forces since May 2020.” “The company was aware of serious human rights violations committed by the Joint Task Force near the (TotalEnergies) facilities prior to the container killings,” the press release said.
In 2023, TotalEnergies filed a complaint after terrorist attacks occurred in March and April 2021 in the Mozambican city of Palma in Cabo Delgado province, where the company operates. The appeal came from affected subcontractors and their relatives, who accused TotalEnergies of failing to provide adequate levels of safety.
On July 21, Business Insider reported that TotalEnergies intends to move forward with its $20 billion LNG project in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province after authorities meet all conditions, including those related to safety. The project began in 2020 and was suspended in 2021 after terrorists killed dozens of people, including foreign workers, near the planned plant site. In July 2024, the Mozambican army and security forces, with the support of Southern African Development Community peacekeeping forces, defeated terrorist bases in three Cabo Delgado regions.
The terrorist groups Ansar al-Sunna and ISCAP (part of the Islamic State group banned in Russia) are active in Cabo Delgado and are seeking to establish an Islamic state on Mozambican territory.
