Maputo, March 27, 2025 (Lusa) - TotalEnergies on Thursday assured that Mozambique LNG, the natural gas production consortium in Cabo Delgado, will cooperate fully in the investigation by the Mozambican attorney general's office into alleged human rights violations in that province.
In a statement, the French oil company said that in November 2024 it asked the Mozambican authorities to open a formal investigation following allegations of human rights abuses raised by the media, allegedly committed by members of Mozambique's defence and security forces (FDS) on the Afungi peninsula, during the 2021 terrorist attacks, in the area where it operates the gas project.
It also adds that in January, during the meeting between the oil company's president, Patrick Pouyanné, and the Mozambican head of state, Daniel Chapo, the leader of TotalEnergies "emphasised the importance of such an investigation being conducted in accordance with the rule of law and the sovereignty of the Mozambican state".
In addition, TotalEnergies reveals that it has requested the intervention of Mozambique's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), "to conduct its own investigation into these allegations".
Mozambique's attorney general's office (PGR) has opened criminal proceedings against unknown individuals for alleged human rights violations by military personnel in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, which has been plagued by armed attacks since 2017, the institution announced on 4 March.
At issue are allegations contained in a report published by the newspaper Político, indicating that a Mozambican military unit, operating from TotalEnergies facilities in Cabo Delgado, allegedly took part in acts of torture and executions of civilians in 2021.
The victims, according to the complaint, included local residents accused of belonging to insurgent groups, who were reportedly detained in containers, beaten and deprived of food for up to three months, with only a small number reportedly surviving the alleged mistreatment.
"Mozambique LNG will cooperate fully with the authorities in this regard," said TotalEnergies, which leads the consortium with a 26.5% stake, about the investigation opened by the PGR, welcoming the confirmation "that a criminal investigation has been opened into these allegations".
At the beginning of March, the PGR recalled that a foreign media organisation published a report at the end of 2024 about an alleged human rights violation against civilians in Cabo Delgado, allegedly carried out by members of the FDS in charge of protecting the area around TotalEnergies' facilities.
TotalEnergies, which is preparing to resume its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Cabo Delgado - suspended since 2021 precisely because of the terrorist attacks - says it is pleased that the CNDH announced on 25 March that it will carry out "its own assessment of all relevant information to ensure that the facts are properly ascertained and that the rights of the parties involved are fully respected", hoping that it will be conducted "in a transparent, fair and impartial way".
Since October 2017, gas-rich Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion, which has led to thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis, with more than a million people displaced.
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
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