A government-funded investigation by the Netherlands has confirmed a 2021 massacre at a TotalEnergies gas project in northern Mozambique, providing further evidence of serious human rights abuses in the area.
According to the report, Mozambican soldiers allegedly working to protect the French energy company’s plant separated villagers by gender, confiscated their belongings, and confined approximately 180 men in shipping containers under brutal conditions. Over three months, most of the men were reportedly taken away in groups and executed. Only 26 survived. Witnesses also reported sexual violence and killings in nearby villages.
The findings align with earlier reporting by POLITICO and reinforce ongoing concerns about TotalEnergies’ involvement. Critics claim the company “directly financed and materially supported” the soldiers responsible for the atrocities, accusations TotalEnergies has firmly denied. A French prosecutor has also opened a criminal investigation into allegations of involuntary manslaughter at the facility.
The Dutch report indicates that the massacre was part of a broader campaign of reprisal following a March 2021 ISIS attack on the nearby town of Palma, which left over 1,350 civilians dead, including members of TotalEnergies’ workforce. The company has consistently rejected claims that any of its employees died during the attack.
The humanitarian situation worsened in the months following the attack, with thousands of people seeking refuge near the gas plant, many of them facing starvation, disease, and lack of medical care. Soldiers reportedly looted aid supplies and retaliated indiscriminately against civilians.
In response to the report, human rights and environmental organizations have called for lenders to withdraw support for the $20.5 billion project, part of a broader $50 billion natural gas development once hailed as Africa’s largest private investment. Despite these calls, TotalEnergies has said the project will continue, with other financiers agreeing to fill the funding gap left by the British and Dutch withdrawals.
