Mozambique’s human rights commission (CNDH) is investigating serious media claims of deadly abuses by government soldiers against villagers near a major TotalEnergies gas plant.
A September Politico report alleged that after a 2021 attack, soldiers protecting the site imprisoned 180-250 men in containers, accusing them of insurgency.
The report claims these men were held for three months, suffering beatings, suffocation, starvation, and torture, with only 26 survivors.
The CNDH views these potential acts as “crimes of summary execution (murder) torture and other cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment,” and has deployed investigators to Cabo Delgado province.
They will interview witnesses and victims, and meet with TotalEnergies’ local subsidiary (Mozambique LNG), which previously denied knowledge of such atrocities.
These alleged abuses occurred after a March 2021 attack by Islamic State-linked militants on Palma, near the TotalEnergies site.
This conflict, which has killed hundreds (over 1,400 according to one investigation), forced thousands to flee and stalled the multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas project, a vital project for Mozambique.
The investigation seeks accountability and potential reparations for victims.
