Maputo, Sept. 29, 2024 (Lusa) - TotalEnergies claims that it was never informed of alleged murders committed by Mozambican military personnel against civilians in 2021 near the natural gas exploration project it is building in Cabo Delgado, at the time of the terrorist attacks.
At issue is an article published on Thursday in POLITICO, which denounces human rights abuses in 2021 and murders committed by Mozambican military personnel against civilians in that province in the north of the country.
The French multinational's response, to which Lusa had access on Sunday, said that following the terrorist attacks in the region, Afungi, the project site, 50 kilometres from the town of Palma - attacked by terrorists from 24 March to 5 April 2021 - was evacuated of all the company's staff and subcontractors, as of 27 March 2021.
It added that until November of that year, after the withdrawal of 2,500 people, there were no employees of the Mozambique LNG consortium, which TotalEnergies leads - which plans to invest $20 billion (€17.9 billion) to export natural gas, which has been at a standstill since 2021 - and that the site was "under the control of Mozambique's public security forces".
The POLITICO article reports that civilians trying to escape a confrontation between the military and insurgents affiliated with the African arm of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria were accused of being militiamen.
The crimes were committed in the summer of 2021, and the military allegedly tortured the men in a village, detaining them in cargo containers, where the military "suffocated, starved, tortured and finally killed" them, with only 26 surviving out of a group that must have numbered between 180 and 250 people, according to POLITICO.
The French oil company says that "during the period between April and November 2021, despite not having a physical presence in Afungi", Mozambique LNG maintained "close communication with the local authorities", with 1,200 telephone calls to community leaders and other local elements, and that "in none of these contacts were the reported events described".
TotalEnergies adds that after the terrorist attacks in Palma, Mozambique LNG "provided emergency aid and humanitarian support to local communities through local NGOs".
"Around 400 tonnes of humanitarian aid were distributed to affected communities and internally displaced persons (IDPs) after the attacks and throughout 2021. In addition, more than 320 tonnes of food were distributed to IDPs in the Mocímboa da Praia and Afungi areas, and around 200 tonnes of food were distributed to IDP centres in the southern part of the province (...) More than 277,000 meals were distributed to vulnerable families in the Palma and Afungi areas."
"During this period, Mozambique LNG maintained regular communications with the NGOs involved in the community support programmes and the alleged events were never posted," the information stresses.
The European Commission announced on Saturday that it had requested "clarification" from the Mozambican authorities on these allegations.
"We are awaiting clarification from the Mozambican authorities," a spokesman for the EU government told Lusa.
Without questioning the European Union (EU) mission to instruct Mozambican military personnel, the same source said that the political-economic bloc "will always fight for respect for human rights in Cabo Delgado".
The same source added that the military training mission promoted by the EU, led by Portugal from Maputo, only began in 2022, after the events denounced.
However, in the EU training mission, "the protection of the civilian population and compliance with international humanitarian law are cornerstones" and are also an "essential element of the political dialogue with Mozambique."
The spokesman recognised that until the start of the EU mission, the military had not been instructed on the protection of human rights and compliance with international humanitarian law, adding that this approach "has been received with appreciation".
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
