President Daniel Chapo on Friday rejected as false allegations that Mozambique’s security forces committed serious human rights violations in Palma, Cabo Delgado, after a London-based investigation and a criminal complaint tied the abuses to activities surrounding a major gas project.
The allegations were published Sept. 26 by Politico and were paired with a criminal complaint filed in France by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR). The complaint accuses French energy giant TotalEnergies, which operates the Mozambique LNG Project on the Afungi peninsula, of complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearances of civilians in Cabo Delgado.
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The ECCHR complaint, lodged with France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), alleges that TotalEnergies “directly financed and materially supported” a Joint Task Force established by the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM). The filing says that between July and September 2021 members of that Joint Task Force detained, tortured and killed dozens of civilians on TotalEnergies’ gas site in Palma.
Chapo dismissed the report and the allegations during a visit to the provincial National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) in Pemba, the provincial capital. He did not provide further detail in public remarks, and local authorities have not released an immediate response to the ECCHR filing beyond Chapo’s denials.
The complaint’s transfer to the PNAT underscores the cross-border legal dimensions of the case: the office is charged with investigating terrorism offenses and has jurisdiction to pursue international crimes. The ECCHR’s filing centers on whether corporate assistance to security operations amounted to material support for abuses on and around the Afungi site, where the Mozambique LNG Project is a focal point of foreign investment and security activity.
The Politico article and the ECCHR complaint have amplified scrutiny of the intersection between energy development and security operations in Cabo Delgado, a province that has been the focus of international attention because of instability and large-scale commercial projects. The allegations, if substantiated, could widen legal exposure for both private contractors and state actors involved in securing energy infrastructure.
At the time of Chapo’s statement in Pemba, no formal judicial decision or public update from the PNAT had been announced. The criminal complaint lodged in France places the matter before a prosecutor’s office that can open an inquiry into whether international crimes were committed and whether corporate actors bear responsibility for alleged abuses.
Further developments will depend on any investigation launched by French authorities and on responses from TotalEnergies and Mozambican security officials to the specific claims laid out in the ECCHR filing.
By News-room
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
