Il y a des espaces qui sont des événements. Et il y a des espaces qui, avec le temps, se transforment en processus politiques. L’atelier de Maputo sur l’impunité des entreprises et les droits de l’homme, organisé par Justiça Ambiental JA!, appartient à cette deuxième catégorie.

Alors qu’il en est à sa 10e édition, cet atelier ne se contente pas de célébrer une date. Il célèbre une décennie de résistance, de construction collective, de production de connaissances et de renforcement d’un mouvement qui s’est efforcé de s’opposer à l’une des structures les plus puissantes de notre époque : le pouvoir des entreprises et l’impunité qui le caractérise.

Depuis dix ans, cet espace rassemble des communautés touchées, des mouvements sociaux, des organisations de la société civile, des universitaires, des avocats, des journalistes, des artistes et des militants venus de différentes régions d’Afrique et du monde entier. Ce qui nous unit, ce n’est pas seulement notre préoccupation face à des cas concrets de violations des droits de l’homme. C’est la prise de conscience que, derrière chaque cas, se cachent des structures économiques, politiques et juridiques qui permettent à l’exploitation de perdurer.

Comme l’a déclaré Anabela Lemos, directrice de Justiça Ambiental JA!:

“Cette année, c’est avec une grande fierté que nous célébrons les 10 ans de l’atelier sur l’impunité des entreprises et les droits de l’homme. Ce sont 10 ans de résistance, consacrés à renforcer notre mouvement, afin que nous puissions tous jouir des mêmes droits : le droit à un environnement sain, le droit à l’éducation, à la santé, à une vie digne, à nos territoires et à nos cultures, ainsi qu’à nos biens communs.

Aujourd’hui, nous luttons contre l’usurpation de nos territoires, contre les graves violations des droits de l’homme commises par les entreprises qui exploitent nos ressources, telles que ENI, Total, EDF, Portucel et Jindal, pour n’en citer que quelques-unes, mais aussi par l’État, qui a le devoir et l’obligation de protéger et de défendre le peuple mozambicain.

Nous luttons pour changer ce modèle dit de « développement », qui a déjà clairement démontré qu’il ne fait qu’aggraver la pauvreté, les inégalités et les violations des droits, la violence, la militarisation et la destruction de l’environnement dans notre pays.

Nous nous battons pour que tous les Mozambicains et toutes les Mozambicaines connaissent leurs droits et s’organisent de plus en plus pour exiger un pays qui appartienne à tous et soit au service de tous, où la vie vaut plus que le profit. Un pays en paix, à l’abri des guerres, des assassinats et des insurrections.”

Cette déclaration résume le parcours et la raison d’être de l’atelier de Maputo.

Dix ans plus tard, qu’est-ce qui a changé?

La première réponse serait dérangeante : bon nombre des structures contre lesquelles nous luttons sont toujours présentes. Les communautés continuent d’être déplacées de force au nom de projets de “développement”. Les ressources naturelles continuent d’être accaparées par les grandes entreprises. L’État continue, dans de nombreux cas, de présenter l’investissement étranger comme une solution miracle à des problèmes qui sont, dans une large mesure, engendrés par le modèle économique lui-même. Notre système judiciaire continue de s’incliner devant le grand capital – et de refuser de demander des comptes aux élites politiques qui le soutiennent. L’exploitation du gaz, du charbon, des minerais, des forêts et des terres s’accompagne toujours de conflits, de réinstallations, de la perte des moyens de subsistance, de la destruction de l’environnement et de la militarisation.

Dans de nombreux cas, le développement est souvent évalué par le volume des investissements, de la croissance économique ou des entrées de devises, tandis que les conditions de vie concrètes des communautés restent inchangées – voire s’aggravent.

Mais quelque chose a changé. Ce qui a changé, c’est la capacité à nommer les problèmes, à relier entre elles différentes luttes. Ce qui a changé, c’est la prise de conscience que ce qui se passe dans une communauté touchée par une mine, un barrage ou un projet gazier n’est pas un accident isolé, mais s’inscrit dans un système conçu à cet effet. Et ce qui a surtout changé, c’est la capacité à construire la solidarité et à exiger des changements systémiques.

C’est dans cet espace qu’une communauté du Mozambique peut dialoguer avec une communauté du Kenya, d’Eswatini, d’Afrique du Sud, du Mali ou du Brésil. C’est dans cet espace qu’un combat local peut être compris comme s’inscrivant dans un conflit mondial autour de la terre, des ressources naturelles, de l’énergie, du climat et du pouvoir.

Du signalement des cas à la compréhension du système

L’une des principales contributions de l’atelier de Maputo a précisément été celle-ci : faire passer le débat de la dénonciation isolée à l’analyse des structures.

La première journée de la 10e édition a cherché à comprendre le système qui engendre l’impunité. Le capitalisme, le racisme, le patriarcat, la xénophobie et l’afrophobie ont été analysés non pas comme des phénomènes distincts, mais comme des systèmes d’oppression qui se renforcent mutuellement.

La question n’est plus seulement : qui a violé ce droit ?

Elle est désormais aussi : quel système permet à cette violation de se produire, de se répéter et de rester impunie ?

Ce changement est fondamental. Car il est urgent et nécessaire de tenir une entreprise transnationale pour responsable d’une violation concrète. Mais cela ne suffit pas si le système continue à produire de nouvelles entreprises, de nouveaux projets et de nouvelles violations.

Le “développement” qui engendre la dépendance

Le deuxième jour, le débat s’est concentré sur l’économie politique de la dépendance.

Dix ans d’ateliers ont démontré qu’il n’est pas possible d’aborder la question du pouvoir des grandes entreprises sans évoquer la dette, le colonialisme, les investissements étrangers, les traités internationaux et les chaînes de production mondiales.

L’Afrique continue d’être intégrée dans l’économie mondiale principalement en tant que fournisseur de matières premières, d’énergie et de main-d’œuvre bon marché. Dans le même temps, elle reste dépendante des importations de technologies, de produits finis et de financements. Ce modèle est présenté comme du développement.

Mais un modèle qui laisse les pays endettés, dépendants et vulnérables, tandis que les ressources génèrent des profits à l’étranger et de la pauvreté et de la violence chez nous, doit être remis en question. L’atelier a été un espace permettant précisément de poser cette question: le développement pour qui?

L’État entre obligation et captation

Un autre axe fondamental de l’atelier a été la relation entre l’État et les entreprises.

L’État a l’obligation de protéger les droits de l’homme et l’environnement. Cependant, dans de nombreux contextes, les institutions publiques finissent par protéger les investissements plutôt que les personnes. C’est dans ce contexte que se manifeste la « captation par les entreprises ».

Lorsque les entreprises influencent les politiques publiques, les lois et les décisions institutionnelles ; lorsque les traités d’investissement limitent la capacité législative des États ; lorsque les communautés ne sont consultées qu’une fois les décisions prises ; lorsque les militants et les journalistes sont persécutés pour avoir dénoncé des violations, il devient nécessaire de se demander si l’État continue d’agir en tant que garant de l’intérêt public.

La phrase prononcée lors de la quatrième table ronde résume bien cette réalité:

“La population n’a pas besoin d’être au courant du projet une fois que le tracteur est déjà sur place.”

Il ne s’agit pas seulement d’une question de procédure. Il s’agit de pouvoir et d’autodétermination.

Qui décide de l’utilisation des terres ? Qui décide de l’utilisation des ressources ? Qui définit ce qu’est le développement ? Qui prend en charge les coûts lorsque les projets échouent ?

Ce sont là des questions centrales pour tout débat sérieux sur la souveraineté.

La crise climatique et la nécessité d’une transition juste

La crise climatique a rendu encore plus urgente la nécessité de remettre en question le modèle économique dominant. Le système climatique mondial présente un dysfonctionnement: l’excès de gaz à effet de serre dans l’atmosphère, provoqué principalement par la combustion de combustibles fossiles. Les communautés côtières et rurales sont déjà confrontées à des inondations, des sécheresses, des cyclones, des pertes de récoltes et à la destruction de leurs moyens de subsistance. Or, ce sont souvent les populations qui ont le moins contribué à la crise climatique qui subissent ses conséquences les plus graves.

Dans le même temps, la soi-disant transition énergétique risque de reproduire les mêmes schémas d’exploitation.

Si la transition vers les énergies renouvelables passe par une nouvelle ruée vers les minerais, par l’accaparement des terres et par le déplacement des communautés, nous ne ferons que remplacer un modèle extractiviste par un autre.

Une transition juste ne peut se limiter à remplacer les combustibles fossiles par de nouvelles sources d’énergie. Elle doit passer par la démocratisation de l’énergie, la protection des communautés, le respect des droits humains et la garantie pour les générations futures d’une planète habitable.

Un espace qui favorise également le mouvement

L’impact de l’atelier ne peut se mesurer uniquement au nombre de tables rondes organisées ou de participants présents. Son véritable impact réside dans les relations qu’il tisse. Il réside dans la communauté qui y trouve le soutien nécessaire pour poursuivre son combat, dans le militant qui se rend compte que son combat n’est pas isolé, dans le journaliste qui y trouve la solidarité dont il a besoin pour continuer à enquêter, dans l’avocat qui transforme une plainte en stratégie juridique, dans le chercheur qui met ses connaissances au service des communautés, dans l’organisation qui y trouve des partenaires pour mener une campagne.

C’est ce réseau qui fait de l’atelier bien plus qu’un simple événement.

Comme cela a été souligné lors de la séance de clôture, au cours des dix dernières années — et en s’appuyant sur de nombreuses autres années d’engagement en faveur de la justice environnementale —, les communautés touchées, les mouvements sociaux, les organisations de la société civile, les universitaires, les experts, les avocats et les artistes ont travaillé ensemble pour renforcer le mouvement contre le pouvoir et l’impunité des entreprises sur le continent.

L’atelier de Maputo a permis d’approfondir une analyse systémique des multiples crises que traverse l’Afrique et d’en comprendre également leur dimension mondiale. La réponse ne peut donc pas être uniquement nationale; il est nécessaire de construire une solidarité régionale, continentale et internationale.

Une solidarité panafricaine, capable de reconnaître que la lutte d’une communauté contre un barrage, une mine ou un projet gazier est liée aux luttes d’autres peuples contre ce même système d’exploitation.

Dix ans plus tard, “a luta continua”

Le 10e atelier ne s’est pas limité à de simples paroles, il s’est conclu par des engagements.

Les participants ont réaffirmé leur responsabilité de relayer ces discussions au sein de leurs communautés, organisations et mouvements. Ils ont réaffirmé l’importance de continuer à dénoncer les injustices et les crimes commis par les entreprises. Ils ont réaffirmé l’urgence d’un traité contraignant des Nations unies visant à réglementer les entreprises transnationales, qui soit solide et efficace. Ils ont réaffirmé le caractère central de la lutte pour l’autodétermination des peuples sahraoui et palestinien. Ils ont réaffirmé leur engagement envers la Déclaration de Maputo contre l’impunité des entreprises et pour les droits de l’homme et la justice climatique, adoptée en août 2024.

Et ils ont réaffirmé quelque chose d’encore plus fondamental : la solidarité active et radicale avec tous ceux qui sont intimidés, soumis à des pressions, emprisonnés ou assassinés pour avoir résisté au pouvoir des grandes entreprises transnationales et du système capitaliste mondial.

Dix ans plus tard, l’importance de cet espace réside précisément dans sa capacité à résister à la fragmentation.

Car, malgré de nombreuses années de résistance, les structures contre lesquelles nous luttons restent solides. Les entreprises restent puissantes, les États restent vulnérables à la captation, les communautés restent menacées, les défenseurs des droits continuent d’être persécutés et le modèle économique continue de faire passer le profit avant la vie.

Mais il y a aussi plusieurs choses qui continuent de se développer : la capacité des peuples et des communautés touchés à s’organiser et à se mobiliser pour un système plus juste. La prise de conscience que la terre et la dignité n’ont pas de prix. La certitude qu’aucun projet de développement ne peut être considéré comme légitime lorsqu’il implique la création de zones de sacrifice. Et la conscience que, tout comme d’autres systèmes d’oppression ont déjà été démantelés par le passé grâce à la mobilisation et aux revendications populaires, ceux qui nous oppriment aujourd’hui le seront également.

L’atelier de Maputo continuera à s’affirmer comme un espace construit collectivement par les mouvements sociaux, les organisations et les individus engagés du continent africain, en vue d’atteindre ces objectifs. La lutte continue, pour la justice, les droits et la souveraineté, jusqu’à ce que nous soyons tous et toutes libres!

There are spaces that are events. And there are spaces that, over time, become political processes. The Maputo Workshop on Corporate Impunity and Human Rights, organised by Justiça Ambiental JA!, falls into the second category.

Now in its 10th edition, the Workshop is not merely marking an anniversary. It is celebrating a decade of resistance, collective endeavour, knowledge-building, and the strengthening of a movement that has sought to challenge one of the most powerful structures of our time: corporate power and the impunity that characterises it.

The forum has brought together affected communities, social movements, civil society organisations, academics, lawyers, journalists, artists and activists from different parts of Africa and the world. What unites us is both concern for specific cases of human rights violations, and  understanding that, behind every case, there are economic, political and legal structures that enable exploitation.

As Anabela Lemos, Director of Justiça Ambiental JA!, stated:

“This year we are celebrating, with great pride, the 10th anniversary of the Workshop on Corporate Impunity and Human Rights. These have been 10 years of resistance, strengthening our movement so that we may all enjoy the same rights: the right to a healthy environment, the right to education, to healthcare, to a life of dignity, to our territories and cultures, and to our common goods.

Today we are fighting against the usurpation of our territories and against serious human rights violations committed by companies that are exploiting our resources – such as ENI, Total, EDF, Portucel and Jindal, to name a few – as well as by the State, which has a duty and an obligation to protect and defend the Mozambican people.

We are fighting to change this so-called ‘development’ model, that has already clearly shown that it is only exacerbating poverty, inequality, rights violations, violence, militarisation and environmental destruction in our country.

We are fighting to ensure that all Mozambicans – men and women alike – know their rights and organise themselves more and more to demand a country that belongs to everyone and is for everyone, where life is worth more than profit. A country at peace, free from war, murder and insurgency.”

This statement summarises the history and purpose of the Maputo Workshop.

Ten years on, what has changed?

The first answer would be an uncomfortable one: many of the structures we are fighting against remain in place. Communities are still forcibly displaced in the name of ‘development’ projects. Natural resources are still appropriated by large corporations. The state continues, in many cases, to present foreign investment as a magic solution to problems that are, to a large extent, created by the economic model itself. Our judicial system continues to bow to big business – and to refuse to hold the political elites who back it to account. The exploitation of gas, coal, minerals, forests and land is still accompanied by conflict, resettlement, loss of livelihoods, environmental destruction and militarisation.

In many cases, development is still measured by the volume of investment, economic growth or foreign exchange inflows, whilst the actual living conditions of communities remains the same or have worsened.

Yet something significant has changed. The ability to identify the problems and link different struggles has strengthened. There is now clear recognition that what happens in a community affected by a mine, a dam or a gas project is not an isolated incident, but the result of a system designed to bring about such outcomes. Above all, what has changed is the motivation to build solidarity and demand systemic change.

It is in this space that a community in Mozambique can engage in dialogue with a community in Kenya, Eswatini, South Africa, Mali or Brazil. It is in this space that a local struggle can be understood as part of a global struggle over land, natural resources, energy, climate and power.

From reporting cases to understanding the system

The Maputo Workshop has moved the discussion beyond isolated complaints to an analysis of the underlying structures.

This year, the workshop began with strengthening understanding of the system that produces impunity. Capitalism, racism, patriarchy, xenophobia and Afrophobia were analysed, not as separate phenomena, but as mutually reinforcing systems of oppression.

The question is no longer simply: who violated this right?

The question has also become: what system enables this violation to take place, to be repeated and to go unpunished?

This shift is fundamental. It is necessary and urgent to hold transnational corporations accountable for specific violations. But it is not enough if the system continues to produce new companies, new projects and new violations.

‘Development’ that produces dependency

On the second day, the discussion focused on the political economy of dependency. The Workshop has been a space for debating precisely the question: development for whom?

Africa continues to be integrated into the global economy primarily as a supplier of raw materials, energy and cheap labour. At the same time, it remains dependent on imports of technology, finished goods and finance. This model is presented as development.

Yet this model must be questioned.  It is a model that leaves countries indebted, dependent and vulnerable, whilst resources generate profits abroad and poverty and violence at home.

The long experience of the Workshop shows that it is not possible to discuss the power of large corporations without addressing debt, colonialism, foreign investment, international treaties and global production chains.

The State: between obligation and capture

The relationship between the state and the companies is a key theme of the Workshop.

The State has a duty to protect human rights and the environment. However, in many contexts, public institutions prioritise the protection of investments over the protection of people. It is in this context that corporate capture arises.

When companies influence public policy, laws and institutional decisions; when investment treaties limit states’ legislative capacity; when communities are consulted only after decisions have already been taken; and when activists and journalists are persecuted for exposing violations, it becomes necessary to ask whether the state continues to act as the guardian of the public interest.

The statement made during the fourth panel sums up this reality:

“The people don’t need to know about the project once the tractor is already there.”

This is about power and self-determination, not merely a matter of procedure.

Who decides on land use? Who decides on resources? Who defines what development is? Who bears the costs when projects fail?

These are central issues in any serious debate on sovereignty.

The climate crisis and the need for a just transition

The climate crisis makes it even more urgent to challenge the dominant economic model. There is a dysfunction in the global climate system – an excess of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels. Coastal and rural communities are already facing floods, droughts, cyclones, crop failures and the destruction of their livelihoods. Yet it is often the people who have contributed least to the climate crisis who bear its most severe impacts.

At the same time, the so-called energy transition risks reproducing the same patterns of exploitation.

If the transition to renewable energy depends on new mineral rushes, land grabs and the displacement of communities, we will simply be replacing one extractivist model with another.

A just transition cannot simply mean swapping fossil fuels for new centralised and privately owned energy sources. It must mean democratising energy, protecting communities, respecting human rights and ensuring that future generations have a habitable planet.

A space that fosters movements

The impact of the workshop cannot be measured solely by the number of panel discussions held or the number of participants in attendance. Its true impact lies in the relationships that are built. It lies in the community that finds support to continue its struggle, in the activist who realises that their struggle is not in isolation, in the journalist who finds solidarity to continue investigating, in the lawyer who turns a complaint into a legal strategy, in the academic who puts their knowledge at the service of communities, and in the organisation that finds partners for a campaign.

It is this network that makes the Workshop more than just an event.

Over the last ten years — and building on many more years of commitment to environmental justice — affected communities, social movements, civil society organisations, academics, experts, lawyers and artists have been working together to strengthen the movement against corporate power and impunity on the continent.

The Maputo Workshop has enabled us to conduct in-depth systemic analysis of the multiple crises affecting Africa, and to understand their global dimension. The response, therefore, cannot be merely national; we must build regional, continental and international solidarity.

A pan-Africanist solidarity, capable of recognising that one community’s local struggle against a dam, a mine or a gas project is linked to the local struggles of other peoples against the same system of exploitation.

Ten years on, “a luta continua”

This year, the 10th Workshop ended with strong commitments.

Participants reaffirmed:

their responsibility to take the discussions back to their communities, organisations and movements;

the importance of continuing to denounce injustices and corporate crimes;

the urgency of a strong and effective, legally binding United Nations treaty to regulate transnational corporations;

the centrality of the struggle for self-determination of the Sahrawi and Palestinian peoples;

their commitment to the Maputo Declaration against Corporate Impunity and for Human Rights and Climate Justice, adopted in August 2024.

Participants also reaffirmed something even more fundamental: active and radical solidarity with all those who are intimidated, pressured, imprisoned or murdered for resisting the power of large transnational corporations and the global capitalist system.

Ten years on, the importance of this forum lies precisely in its ability to resist fragmentation.

Despite decades of resistance, the structures we are fighting against remain standing: corporations remain powerful, states remain vulnerable to capture; communities remain under threat; rights defenders continue to be persecuted; and the economic model continues to prioritise profit over life.

There is also strong growth, including: the capacity of affected peoples and communities to organise and mobilise for a fairer system; the realisation that land and dignity are priceless; the certainty that no development project can be considered legitimate when it involves the creation of ‘sacrifice zones’; and the awareness that, just as other systems of oppression have been dismantled in the past through popular mobilisation and protest, so too will those that oppress us today.

The Maputo Workshop will continue to consolidate itself as a space built collectively by social movements, organisations and committed individuals from the African continent, working towards these objectives. The struggle continues – for justice, rights and sovereignty – until we are all free!

This documentary represents the most comprehensive investigative audiovisual work to date, featuring exclusive footage, on the human and environmental destruction caused by open-cast coal mining in Moatize and Marara, in Tete province Mozambique, both owned by Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL).
Justiça Ambiental JA! invites everyone concerned about environmental and social justice to watch and share this documentary. The struggle of the communities affected by these mega-projects is a struggle for the right to say NO to extractivism that destroys lives, ecosystems and the climate to fuel the profits of large transnational corporations.

Watch it here (in english) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s0R_juMNRA

Also available with portuguese subtitles – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1awHgKacZ4

Logo Florestal do Norte- Fonte: https://florestaldonorte.com/pt/pagina-inicial/

In the districts of Ribaué and Mecuburi, in Nampula Province, worrying signs are emerging of the continuation of practices that, in the recent past, gave rise to deep conflicts between local communities and the company Green Resources. Today, under a new name, Florestal do Norte SA, the same monoculture plantation model appears to be returning, shrouded in contradictions, lack of transparency, and serious doubts regarding the legality of the land access process.

In 2021, through document reference N/Ref. No 29/LGR-AA/2021, Green Resources announced the relinquishment of its Land Use and Benefit Rights (DUATs), in a process presented as a positive example of returning land to the Mozambican state. However, only a few years later, the same areas are once again the object of interest, now by Florestal do Norte SA.¹

Área Florestal do Norte Fonte: https://florestaldonorte.com/

According to official information on its website, the new company, through the Nampula Reforestation Project, aims in the long term to restore, on a large scale, around 17,200 hectares of degraded land, using a combination of native and non-native tree planting, assisted natural regeneration, and agroforestry systems²—precisely in the areas previously occupied by Green Resources. According to representatives of the Provincial Environmental Services (SPA) in Nampula, it has already obtained provisional DUATs for some plots in 2024. This fact alone raises questions about the timing and unusual flexibility within Mozambique’s land administration system, whereby land recently returned to the state is reassigned to another entity. Once again, the law is being bypassed: according to provincial and district government authorities, Florestal do Norte SA already holds provisional DUATs, yet there is still no Environmental Impact Assessment process, which by law must precede the granting of DUATs, even on a provisional basis.

On the ground, the reality experienced by communities reinforces these concerns. In several localities, such as Messa and Cavucane, community members state that they did not participate in formal community consultations regarding the entry of the new company. Many confuse occasional meetings—often related to the land return process—with consultations for the installation of Florestal do Norte. In other cases, there were no consultations at all. This situation calls into question compliance with the principle of free, prior and informed consent, a fundamental right of indigenous peoples and local communities recognized internationally, which guarantees their ability to approve or reject projects, policies or activities affecting their lands, resources or way of life, free from coercion.³

foto: Mudas de Eucalipto em Messa

The contradictions are not limited to the consultation process. While government representatives claim that the company has not yet begun activities on the ground, allegedly due to lack of funding, evidence on the ground suggests otherwise. In the communities of Messa and Intatapila, ongoing activities have been observed, including tree felling, land preparation, and the planting of eucalyptus and some native species. According to community members, these activities began as early as December 2025, information confirmed on the ground by Justiça Ambiental. Therefore, Florestal do Norte has been operating since December 2025 without an Environmental License, has now emerged as Director of Florestal do Norte SA—the company seeking to exploit the same areas and develop the same type of activity using the same strategies in clear violation of the law.

An additional factor reinforcing concern is the continuity of actors involved in this process. The former Director of Green Resources in Mozambique⁴ has now emerged as Director of Florestal do Norte SA—the company seeking to exploit the same areas and develop the same type of activity using the same strategies.⁵ It is important to note that, before serving as Director of Green Resources, he held several highly relevant positions within the state for many years, including as National Director of Land and Forests (DNTF) in the Ministry of Agriculture. As such, he had privileged access to land-related information, possessed deep knowledge of administrative processes, and maintains a well-established network of influence within the Ministry of Land and Environment. He likely knows exactly how to “accelerate” DUAT processes and how to navigate legal loopholes in community consultations. This overlap raises an unavoidable question: are we witnessing genuine change, or merely a reconfiguration of the same project under a different identity? Is this a classic example of how revolving doors between the state and the private sector facilitate the expansion of agribusiness and monocultures in Mozambique.

foto: Plantio de Eucalipto em Messa

It is important to emphasize that conflicts between communities and Green Resources remain unresolved. Many communities are still awaiting compensation, clarification, and justice⁶. Nevertheless, the Mozambican state, through its institutions, is moving forward with allocating these same lands to a new entity, without ensuring that inherited problems have been properly addressed.

It is worth recalling that Green Resources AS (GRAS), in partnership with USAID and the ILRG program, produced a report presenting a notable and innovative effort in the Mozambican context, implementing a divestment model aimed at repairing communities affected by land occupation for forest monocultures⁷. What initially appeared to be a positive example of land restitution to the state is now revealing more complex and troubling dimensions. The sequence of events—relinquishment, unresolved conflicts, rapid reassignment of the same areas, and continuity of actors—raises legitimate doubts about the transparency and integrity of the entire process.

Foto: Plantio de Jambir em Intatapila

In this context, critical questions must be asked: who benefits from this reconfiguration? Who gains from the rapid reoccupation of the land? And what is the true role of public institutions in validating these processes? These questions become even more relevant at a time when Mozambique is undergoing a revision of its Land Legislation⁸. There is a risk that certain actors are seeking to secure control over large tracts of land before the approval of potentially more restrictive rules, in a kind of pre-emptive race to secure advantageous positions.

The facts observed in Nampula, together with the limited public information about the land return process, point to a troubling pattern: lack of transparency, limited community participation, and possible irregularities in land allocation processes. In this scenario, it becomes urgent to strengthen public scrutiny, ensure respect for community rights, and demand greater accountability from all stakeholders. Without this, the risk is clear: repeating the mistakes of the past—this time under new names, but with the same negative impacts on communities and the environment.

¹ https://florestaldonorte.com/pt/anuncio-de-consulta-publica-projecto-de-restauracao-paisagistica-e-
reflorestamento-em-nampula-florestal-do-norte/
² https://florestaldonorte.com/pt/projecto/
³ https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/publications/2016/10/free-prior-and-informed-
consent-an-indigenous-peoples-right-and-a-good-practice-for-local-communities-fao/
⁴ https://www.wrm.org.uy//wp-
content/uploads/2017/04/The_Progress_of_Forest_Plantations_on_the_Farmers_Territories_in_the_Nacala_
Corridor_the_case_of_Green_Resources_Mocambique.pdf
⁵ https://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin-articles/green-resources-mozambique-more-false-promises
⁶ https://justica-ambiental.org/2018/07/18/carta-com-as-demandas-das-comunidades-afectadas-pela-green-
resources/
⁷ Terra Firma (2023). Final Report on Responsible Land Disinvestment Activity with Green Resources AS:
Activities, Results, and Lessons Learned. USAID Integrated Land and Resource Governance Task Order under
the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights II (STARR II) IDIQ.
⁸ https://omrmz.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Directrizes-Para-Um-Quadro-Politico-Legal-Sobre-Terras-
Inclusivo-e-Sustentavel.pdf

Families from the communities of Milamba 1 and 2, affected by the liquefied natural gas projects of
TotalEnergies, Eni and ExxonMobil, were the first to be resettled in the town of Quitunda in 2019.
At the time, this was a strategic decision, driven by the prior displacement of these families, who
were fleeing the threat of attacks by insurgents. Thus, although they represented a relatively small
number of affected families, they were prioritised in the resettlement process.

Between July and August 2019, the 109 families from Milamba 1 and 2 received their homes.
Initially, the zone chief and other influential figures mobilised local residents not to accept the
houses until replacement land for their food fields (machambas) had been allocated. However,
under pressure from the company responsible for the project and the local government, the
families eventually agreed to accept the houses, despite the uncertainty regarding when they
would receive the land for agricultural production.

Between 2020 and 2022, families from these resettled areas were allocated land in the community
of Senga, where the so-called Phase Zero of the resettlement programme was officially launched.
However, this phase was never formally concluded, and to this day, there are still records of
complaints regarding the non-payment of compensation for the permanent loss of land, and in
most cases, the complaints lodged have not been resolved. The fact is that there is now talk of a
resettlement process having been completed, without, however, the promises made to the various
affected communities in the different phases set out in the Palma resettlement plan having been
fulfilled. This is an extremely protracted and complex resettlement process due to the high number
of people and families affected, delays in the payment of compensation and the apparent lack of
coordination among the various project teams 1 . The complexity and scope of the resettlement
process itself are increasing the number of people affected by the ongoing search for new areas to
allocate as compensation land, affecting new communities and families every day.

Most of the resettled families who received replacement land in the community of Senga are
currently facing disputes with the respective landowners of those areas. This situation arises
because TotalEnergies has not yet compensated some of the local families for the permanent loss
of their land. In many cases, the company claims that the land was idle; however, the communities
affected by the project dispute this classification, stating that the areas were being left fallow — a
common and recommended agricultural practice in both traditional and conventional farming, as it
contributes to soil fertilisation. Furthermore, several plots were clearly demarcated.

As a result, shortly after the land was allocated, the families resettled in Quitunda began to receive
threats, being warned that they should not farm on these plots until the rightful owners had
received the compensation provided for in the agreements reached between the company and the
community during the Phase Zero negotiations of the resettlement.

At one point, the situation appeared to be relatively under control, particularly in cases where some
families reached informal agreements for the shared use of the land. However, in most situations,
what is observed is the abandonment of the plots by the resettled families, who are frequently
prevented from using them by the respective landowners. In some cases, this prohibition occurs
even after the families have already sown their crops.

This is the case of the three elderly women who, after being allocated replacement land in Senga,
were subsequently evicted by the former owner of the land that had been assigned to them. They
no longer have the strength to argue or fight for land that was never truly theirs.
The lands they knew as their own were those where they were born and raised, lands that were
taken over by the project in Milamba, their community to which they can no longer return.

Today, they find themselves reduced to the insignificance imposed upon them by that very project. They
remain at home, lamenting their futures.

With no land to grow the food that sustains them, all that remains is to wait for the day when old
age can no longer bear the weight of their lamentations or the regret of not having resisted a little
longer. Today, they lament having lost the land they always knew as their own in exchange for a
promise that was never kept — a land from which they were driven out, without even having had
the chance to protest or demand justice.

Links to video interviews with those affected:

Intra-Community Conflicts in the District of Palma: Rabia Issa Mussa
Intra-Community Conflicts in the District of Palma: Nnacuze Rachide
Intra-Community Conflicts in the District of Palma: Nfalanca Vela

1 In Quitunda, some resettled families received coconut seedlings in 2024, although they are still waiting for the allocation of their
respective compensation land. In practice, the seedlings were distributed without the families having land where they can plant
them.

Press release by Justiça Ambiental, ReCommon, Friends of the Earth France, BankTrack, urgewal

01 April 2026 – Campaign members of the “Say No to Gas! In Mozambique” coalition share the serious concerns expressed by UN-appointed human rights experts regarding the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) $150 million loan to support the Coral North Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project [1]. They demand that all financial institutions respond to the call of these experts, by committing to not support the gas expansion in northern Mozambique and suspend financing for new fossil fuel projects. 

The project, led by Italian company Eni, consists of a floating platform designed for gas extraction and liquefaction off the coast of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s northernmost province. It is effectively a replica of Eni’s Coral South FLNG, which has been operational and exporting liquefied gas since November 2022. For the past eight years, the region has been the scene of violent conflict between the Mozambican army and insurgent groups. 

In the UN statement, the human rights experts state that the Coral North project “risks exacerbating human rights violations, contributing to climate change and diverting already scarce public funds away from urgent investments in renewable energy”. They also warned that it could compound existing tensions and human rights challenges caused by the gas sector in Cabo Delgado province.

Three other gas extraction and processing projects in northern Mozambique are on the radar – TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG, Rovuma LNG led by ExxonMobil and Eni, and Coral South FLNG led by Eni. According to the human rights experts: “Previous LNG projects in Cabo Delgado have suffered from inadequate consultation, which has undermined local participation in key project decisions and resulted in loss of livelihoods and long-term socioeconomic disruption for communities who depend heavily on fishing, agriculture and natural resources. Despite promises of employment creation, high illiteracy rates and limited access to education mean that local communities have reportedly benefited little from job opportunities generated to date”. They highlight that this has occurred in a region where armed conflict and climate change have already caused large-scale displacement.

Previously, experts have warned that the Coral North FLNG project could have a significant climate impact, with excessive greenhouse gas emissions, an issue that was highlighted as early as March 2025. ReCommon’s investigation ‘Hidden Flames’, examined the climate impacts of the Coral South FLNG plant, with a particular focus on gas flaring and associated emissions – both of which were underestimated by Eni [3]. 

In correspondence with the AfDB, members of the StopMozGas coalition were assured that the Coral North FLNG project has “integrated strong environmental and climate measures, including flaring minimisation and emissions management, positioning Coral North among the cleaner LNG projects.” However, flaring is not an uncommon concern at LNG plants, with a recent investigation by Data Desk showing that LNG terminals tend to flare for significantly longer than the industry claims once they start producing, and that flaring remains persistent for decades at many facilities [4]. 

The UN human rights experts state: “We are deeply concerned that a leading multilateral development bank would finance a project of this nature at a time when the harmful environmental and climate consequences of fossil fuel expansion are well understood…. Financial institutions and businesses have a responsibility, under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to identify, prevent, mitigate, and remedy human rights impacts linked to their activities and business relationships.”

Their warning explicitly refers to Coral North FLNG and is addressed to the AfDB, but the audience it addresses between the lines is much broader. TotalEnergies is involved in two criminal proceedings in France: the first for involuntary manslaughter and failure to assist persons in danger [5], the second for complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearance [6]. The site on which the French multinational’s Mozambique LNG project is due to be built is shared with ExxonMobil and Eni’s Rovuma LNG. These factors – relating to Coral North FLNG and other fossil fuel projects in the area – must not be overlooked by the international financial backers of the infrastructure, both confirmed and potential.

According to the UN statement, the African Development Bank’s decision appears to be at odds with its 2021–2030 Strategy on Climate Change and Green Growth, with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on climate change, and with the imperative, enshrined in international human rights law, to decarbonise economies over the course of this decade. The experts are urging the bank to suspend all financing for fossil fuel projects. 

“The costs of the gas to Mozambique are mounting, the promised revenues are sinking further, and local people and businesses are cut off from opportunities, in the process of exploiting fossil reserves that will contribute little to Mozambique’s energy security. The African Development Bank – along with all financial institutions that remain involved – must reconsider its involvement in both Coral North FLNG and Mozambique LNG,” says Anabela Lemos, Director at Justiça Ambiental, Maputo. 

“The statement from UN human rights experts is crystal clear: it acknowledges that the majors that have taken control over Mozambique’s gas reserves are responsible for a disastrous track record of human rights violations. This reality is starkly documented with regard to Total’s activities in Cabo Delgado and its Mozambique LNG project. Once these facts are established, the course of action is equally clear to these experts: financial institutions are subject to obligations, and must refuse to support fossil fuel projects in Mozambique and around the world. This obviously applies to the French banks Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, which stubbornly continue to finance Total in a gas project that has already claimed far too many victims,” says Lorette Philippot, Private Finance Campaigner at Friends of the Earth France. 

“Even UN human rights experts have come out against new gas projects in Mozambique, citing a long list of human rights issues. TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG project is a prime example of the challenges such endeavors face. Siemens Energy should heed the UN experts’ advice and call off its plans to supply gas turbines for this disastrous project,” says Sonja Meister, Energy Campaigner at Urgewald.

“Gas expansion in Mozambique is violating human rights, destroying pristine nature and contributing to climate chaos in one of the countries most vulnerable to climate catastrophes, as the recent and still ongoing massive floods show – with hundreds of thousands of affected individuals and widespread displacements. Commercial banks, like Standard Chartered, Rand Merchant Bank, Nedbank and Absa Banks, have a duty to stop finance to all of Mozambique’s gas expansion, or face the increased risks of committing finance to ever more well-documented harmful business practices,” says Diogo Silva, Banks and Climate campaign lead at BankTrack.

“SACE and Cassa Depositi Prestiti have decided to confirm their financial support for Mozambique LNG despite the serious human rights violations associated with the project. UBI Banca, now controlled by Intesa Sanpaolo, financed Coral South FLNG. All these financial institutions are vying to support both Coral North FLNG and Rovuma LNG with public and private capital. We call on them to heed the warning from UN experts and not to provide financial support for these projects. Projects which, in the domestic context, would exacerbate Italy’s dependence on fossil fuels – a short-sighted choice given the energy and economic repercussions resulting from the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” says Simone Ogno, campaigner at ReCommon.

Contacts

• Daniel Ribeiro, Justiça Ambiental / daniel.ja.mz@gmail.com
• Simone Ogno, ReCommon / simoneogno@recommon.org 
• Lorette Philippot, Friends of the Earth France / +33 640188284 / lorette.philippot@amisdelaterre.org 
• Sonja Meister, Urgewald, sonja.meister@urgewald.org, 0049 17664608515
• Diogo Silva, BanksTrack, diogo@banktrack.org, +351 912 490 209
  

Notes
[1] Mozambique: UN experts concerned by African Development Bank funding for floating LNG project | OHCHR 

[2] Mozambique: Harsh economic warning from Standard Bank and Oxford Economics – By Joseph Hanlon; Poisoned Gift – Moz24h 

[3] ENI non ha rivelato la reale portata delle emissioni di gas climalteranti in Mozambico, lo rivela il nuovo rapporto di ReCommon “Fiamme Nascoste”; Hidden flames: flaring at Coral South FLNG – StopMozGas 

[4] Revealed: the hidden climate impact of LNG  

[5] French prosecutors launch manslaughter probe against TotalEnergies over Mozambique attack 

[6] TotalEnergies faces criminal complaint for complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearance in Mozambique

Southern Mozambique and parts of Zimbabwe and South Africa have been – and some
areas still are – once again under water. Being a downstream country, Mozambique is one of
the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. The reality of this is lived by our people
almost annually now. Over 150 people are dead and 400,000 people have been displaced,
with a total of almost 1 million affected people, due to the severe floods in January 2026.
In 2000, the country suffered other terrible floods, and the iconic image of those floods was a
baby being born on a tree before being rescued. The country and the world followed her
story. Despite all the media attention and support, Rosita Pedro died last month at the age of
25 from treatable illnesses. It is impossible not to think of so many other people who
continue to die across the country as a result of a state with misplaced priorities.

During this year’s floods, history repeated itself, with a few more “miracle babies”. A girl was
born on 19 January on a school desk in the village of 3 de Fevereiro, in the district of
Manhiça, Maputo province. Her mother, Erica Raimundo Mimbir, named her Rosita, certainly
hoping she outlives the ill-fated miracle baby of 2000.

The severity of these floods were known for many months, probably since September 2025.
Heavy rains were expected. Dams in the region had been on high alert, and as usual, ended
up contributing to exacerbating the disaster instead of mitigating it. Our government was
negligent: emergency response teams were not on site, and people already living in areas of
poverty and high risk did not receive the resources they needed to survive the floods. Where
were the evacuation plans, the preparation of public and private spaces to house the
displaced, the practical information about where is safe to go when the water begins to flood
our homes?

‘We all live downstream’ is a core part of environmental justice ethics, highlighting the
principles of environmental responsibility and ecological stewardship, our
interconnectedness as peoples and ecology. Our ubuntu.

It is the recognition that what some do affects everyone, and for generations to come. At JA!,
we are focused on building people power across the country, the continent and the world to
dismantle the different systems that oppress us – such as capitalism, racism and patriarchy.
We did not create JA! with the intention of being a humanitarian aid association. Yet the
crisis escalates daily, impacting our neighbors, our families, our own homes. After visiting a
few sites across Maputo city hosting floods survivors, we decided to focus our initial support
on Escola Mariazinha, in Hulene neighbourhood. We have already taken supplies and our
giant pots and pans multiple times now, running a solidarity kitchen and cooking and eating
with more than 100 adults and children each time. Many are still sheltering at the school
weeks later, with their homes still submerged.

We know that this emergency is not the end of this struggle, and so even as we contribute to
meeting basic needs, we are assessing the next steps with the community – discussing what
can be done to change conditions on the ground. An intervention with the Municipal Council
to demand that they pump out the water that has accumulated there, denounce the
corruption that exists in the emergency relief teams, and organise community clean-ups in
the streets are among the ideas that have emerged from the affected people themselves.
Meanwhile, comrades and partners from around the world are ready to mobilise and support
their Mozambican brothers and sisters, but receiving this solidarity also means navigating
bureaucracies that were designed to divide us: barriers to obtaining visas, accommodation
costs, non-existent state infrastructure to coordinate international support. Our government

has become so addicted to cycles of international debt with neoliberal predators that it has
forgotten the importance of true internationalist solidarity in times of crisis – something that
was so crucial in our liberation struggle against the Portuguese colonial regime. Our
government also seems to forget that, although Mozambique is on the front line of the
impacts of climate catastrophe, we have contributed almost nothing to global greenhouse
gas emissions, the main cause of climate change. We do not have to beg in international
forums, we do not need charity – we are entitled to payment of a climate debt by the
countries that have polluted the most.

The multiple interrelated crises will only continue to worsen. But we are not just victims: we
are agents of change. Organised and united communities are capable of taking action to
improve their lives today and in the long term. And because we believe this, we prioritise
building and strengthening movements at the local level, but also internationally. JA! is part
of, among other networks and alliances, the creation of the international movement of
communities affected by dams and the climate crisis, launched in Belém in November 2025,
which brings together people and collectives from all continents, united in the struggle for our
rights and for a systemic change.

If we know that the waters will rise, we must work together to learn to swim, build boats,
build communities, and demand change. As the waters rise, we must also rise. Our
collective survival depends on it.

Total Energies faces criminal complaint for complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearance in Mozambique

18 November 2025. Berlin, Paris, Maputo – Today, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) filed a criminal complaint in France against Total Energies¹ for complicity in war crimes, torture and enforced disappearance. The oil and gas major is accused of having directly financed and materially supported the Joint Task Force, composed of Mozambican armed forces, which between July and September 2021, allegedly detained, tortured and killed dozens of civilians on TotalEnergies’ gas site. The complaint has been filed with the French National Anti Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), which also has a mandate to investigate international crimes.

This filing comes as TotalEnergies just announced the lifting of the force majeure declared in April 2021 on its liquified natural gas project, Mozambique LNG, despite a persistent conflict, intensifying deadly attacks and a major humanitarian crisis. The final restart of the project however still depends on the Mozambican government agreeing to TotalEnergies’ revised budget and to cover for the $4.5 billion extra cost of the project.

The complaint centers on the so-called “container massacre” at the company’s facility. These allegations were first reported by the newspaper Politico in September 2024, followed by Source Material and Le Monde. Following an insurgent attack on Palma town by the armed group Al-Shabab in March and April 2021² , the Mozambican army – including members of the Joint Task Force supported by TotalEnergies – allegedly arbitrarily detained dozens of civilians in metal containers situated at the facility entrance between July and September 2021. The civilians were fleeing their home villages as a result of attacks by Al-Shabab when they were intercepted by the army. According to reported allegations, detainees were tortured, subjected to enforced disappearance and some of them executed. In September 2021, the final 26 detainees were released.

The Joint Task Force was established through a 2020 memorandum between TotalEnergies’ Mozambique subsidiary and the Mozambican government as a dedicated security unit to protect the Mozambique LNG project operations.

TotalEnergies knew of human rights violations committed by armed forces before massacre

“TotalEnergies knew that the Mozambican armed forces had been accused of systematic human rights violations, yet continued to support them with the only objective to secure its own facility” says Clara Gonzales from ECCHR. “The involvement of TotalEnergies with local armed forces and the gravity of allegations ought to lead to the opening of an investigation by French judicial authorities. Companies and their executives are not neutral actors when they operate in conflict zones: if they enable or fuel crimes, they might be complicit and should be held accountable”

Internal TotalEnergies documents, including from its security contractor, detail acts of violence against civilians committed by Mozambican armed forces from May 2020, revealing that the company was aware of serious human rights violations carried out by the Joint Task Force in close proximity to its facility before the container massacre.

Those documents were obtained through freedom of information requests addressed to public financiers of the project³.

Some have been reported on by Le Monde and SourceMaterial, but the complaint analyzes new documents sent by the Dutch government, in which TotalEnergies details its security system, as well as the human rights risks associated with the employment of the Joint Task Force.

Despite this knowledge, TotalEnergies continued to directly support the Joint Task Force by providing accommodation, food, equipment, and soldier bonuses – while stipulating that bonuses would be withdrawn if soldiers committed human rights violations.

Media investigation sparks official probes

The Politico article prompted investigations by Mozambican authorities, as well as by two public financiers of the project, the UK Export Finance agency and the Dutch government – via Atradius. However, no European judicial investigation has yet been opened.

Lorette Philippot from Friends of the Earth France says: “The seriousness of the allegations against Total, laid out in this criminal complaint, must set a red line for the financial backers of Mozambique LNG. More than 30 public and private banks have decided to place their trust in TotalEnergies in 2020 by signing loans, but they did not sign blank cheques. TotalEnergies continues to demonstrate that it has learned nothing from the past: it just announced the lifting of the force majeure on its gas project, despite the dramatic security and humanitarian situation. The UK and Dutch governments, like the French banks Société Générale and Crédit Agricole, must now refuse to renew their financial support and withdraw from Mozambique LNG. ”

Daniel Ribeiro from Justiça Ambiental says: “The local communities have experienced repeated violations of their human rights, yet to date have received no justice. The perpetrators of these crimes have not faced any consequences. This case is an important step toward justice, where the business interests of a company like TotalEnergies do not override the rights and lives of local people” .

Second complaint against TotalEnergies regarding its Mozambique LNG project

This case follows another criminal complaint filed in 2023 by survivors and relatives of victims of the March and April 2021 Palma attack, in which Total Energies is separately accused of failing to ensure the safety of its subcontractors who were targeted, and for some of them killed. In March 2025, the Prosecutor in Nanterre opened a preliminary investigation against TotalEnergies on charges of manslaughter and failure to assist persons in danger.

Companies can be held criminally liable: in France, the Lafarge case has led to the indictment of the company and executives for complicity in crimes against humanity committed by ISIS in Syria, and an on-going trial for terrorism financing in front of Paris court. In Sweden, a trial is also taking place against two former executives at the Swedish oil company Lundin for complicity in war crimes committed by Sudan’s regime – now South Sudan. Beyond its association with numerous accusations of human rights violations, the project could contribute to emit up to 4.5 billion tons of CO₂ equivalent over its lifetime, making it one of the carbon bombs threatening the Paris Agreement’s goals.

Notes to editors

• Friends of the Earth Mozambique (Justiça Ambiental), Friends of the Earth France and Friends of the Earth Europe, who have been engaged for years in a campaign against human rights violations associated with the TotalEnergies Mozambique LNG project, are supporting the legal action.

• This case builds on ECCHR’s ongoing casework on corporate accountability in conflict. More information on the ECCHR’s case against Lafarge in Syria for complicity in crimes against humanity can be found here.

Contacts

• ECCHR: Maria Bause, presse@ecchr.eu, +33 6 37 57 39 44

• Les Amis de la Terre France / Friends of the Earth France: Lorette Philippot, +33 6 40 18 82

84, lorette.philippot@amisdelaterre.org

• Justiça Ambiental! / Friends of the Earth Mozambique: Daniel Ribeiro, +258 86 620 5608,

daniel.ja.mz@gmail.com

^{1 And against “X”: unknown persons that are not identified in the complaint but could be during the criminal investigation,such as executives of the company.}

^{2 Al-Shabab is a non-state armed group, active since 2017 in the northern region of Mozambique, Cabo Delgado. It is officially affiliated to the Islamic state since May 2022, and also designated as “Islamic State Mozambique (ISM)}

3 _{The Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Italy’s public development bank, and ATRADIUS, Netherlands’ public development bank.}

Understanding Mozambique’s post-electoral uprise through Orlando’s story

A Story of Resistance

We met with Orlando in Maputo. He was in town to undergo medical exams — the result of the
police violence he was subjected to during his arrests in the aftermath of last year’s presidential
elections in Mozambique and of the ensuing almost seven months of jail time he spent in one of
the country’s most infamous prisons.

A quiet and very timid man, Orlando is nonetheless very well spoken, and in spite of his current
noticeable physical frailty, his moral fiber and convictions remain as strong as ever.
Orlando is not a criminal. He is one of thousands of Mozambicans who were arrested in the
months following the October 2024 presidential elections — not because they were simply
rightfully protesting or happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time like so many others
— but because they were deliberately targeted.

The regime, feeling extremely threatened by the more than justifiable wrath of its people after
yet another shamelessly and undeniably rigged election, called on its security forces to
suppress all known threats and dissident voices in an attempt to quiet things down.
A member of the Mudada community in southern Mozambique, which alongside Mudissa
community, were stripped of their lands to make way for Moçambique Dugongo Cimentos Co.,
SA, a cement factory with crystal-clear ties to the party in power, Orlando had long been
outspoken about the company’s unfulfilled promises and wrongdoings — jobs for community
members that never materialized as outsiders were hired instead, a hospital and a school that
were promised but never built, and a poorly planned and built resettlement village that floods
every time there are heavy rains, constructed only long after it was promised and after much
popular pressure. Many of the displaced families are still waiting for their promised resettlement
homes and compensations today, over fifteen years after being displaced…

More than a pattern, this is Africa’s most infamous tale. Used countless times to con
communities in Mozambique and across the continent in the name of “development”, presenting
foreign investments as transformative for local people while ultimately serving outsiders and
elite interests — a story with devastating consequences for people and the planet.

In spite of not being a community leader, Orlando’s outspokenness earned him the respect of
his peers but also the reputation — amid the local government and the government-captured
community power structures — of being a troublemaker and agitator. This reputation earned him
two brutal arrests.

The first ¹ , on February 6 th 2025, at the hands of UIR — Mozambique’s riot police. Him and two
other men from his community were detained for three days after protesting the disappearance
of a local resident — Leonardo — who he claims was taken by the army and whose
whereabouts the authorities refused to explain or acknowledge. (Later on, during his seven
month imprisonment, Orlando would find Leonardo in jail — alive, but detained and facing the
same kind of charges.) After being arrested, Orlando was transported lying down in the back of
a police pick-up truck, blindfolded, under the feet of the policemen sitting above him, who kept
kicking him and hitting him with their rifles. He was brutally beaten and tortured, and released
after 3 days.

The second arrest ² came just 10 days after this ordeal. This time on a sunday night,
Mozambique’s criminal investigation police (SERNIC) entered his home uninvited and without a
warrant, beat him up in front of his family, forced him into a car where he was brutally assaulted
on their way to Maputo and presented with a document containing a list of people he was asked
if he knew — a detail that clearly exposes the persecutory nature of these arrests.

When asked whether his imprisonment had instilled fear into his community, he was blatantly
honest: “Certainly. Even the community leader is now afraid to speak up.”

What happened to Orlando is not an isolated case. It mirrors the political climate that has been
increasingly defining Mozambique for decades now — a climate of fear, repression, and deep
institutional decay.

From Revolution to Repression

Mozambique’s current political crisis is rooted in a long and turbulent past. The country’s
troubles began with over four centuries of Portuguese rule, which deeply entrenched a system
built for colonial exploitation and domination.

In 1962, inspired by Marxist ideals, FRELIMO was founded with a clear mission: fight for
liberation and dismantle the imperialist system of oppression imposed by the Portuguese.
Independence came in 1975, following the downfall of Portugal’s fascist regime and over a
decade of armed struggle. Samora Machel, FRELIMO’s charismatic leader, became the
country’s first president. Under his rule, the government nationalized land and key industries
and launched mass literacy and health campaigns, aligning itself with global socialist
movements.

Though idealistic and widely supported, the new state faced serious challenges from the start:

Economic isolation – as Western powers pulled away because of its Marxist-Leninist stance,
and the Eastern bloc’s support wasn’t enough to prevent the hardship.

Sabotage by neighboring white-minority regimes – who saw Mozambique’s socialist
revolution as a threat to their own racial and colonial order.

State authoritarianism – despite its emancipatory rhetoric, Frelimo justified brutal missteps as
resistance against a genuine imperialist threat, framing any critique as counter-revolutionary
and being ruthless toward dissent.

Slowly but surely, the revolution’s egalitarian ideals began to erode under the strain of internal
contradictions and external sabotage.

In 1977, a brutal civil war broke out between Frelimo and Renamo, a rebel movement
sponsored by the South African apartheid regime. It would last for 16 years. Between combat
and starvation, over 1 million people died.

The untimely death of Machel in 1986 marked a significant turning point, leading to a change in
FRELIMO’s political direction. By the 1990s, FRELIMO had shed its Marxist ideals, embracing
neoliberalism and consolidating power through elite political and military networks – that make
the country virtually coup-proof – along with systemic corruption.

The IMF promoted the emergence of state oligarchs, who used their political status to gain
economic power. In exchange, the new oligarchs ensured that foreign companies and countries
benefitted from the gas, coal, rubies and hydroelectricity ³ .

The revolutionaries became oligarchs, and the oligarchs became the local administrators for a
new form of colonialism. The dream of liberation gave way to a reality of systemic inequality,
Hanlon, Joseph. 2025. Moçambique recolonizado através da corrupção.

state capture, and political decay. The very system FRELIMO once vowed to dismantle had won
– and it prevails to this day, ironically with FRELIMO’s own elite now sitting at its helm.
Over the past 30 years, corruption, inequality, and sheer marginalization deepened, but with the
advent of social media and mobile devices, it became harder to withhold information and control
the narrative. Public disillusionment grew exponentially, and as FRELIMO felt its grip slipping,
repression grew too, space for democracy shrank, and elections became a sham. Once hailed
as heroes of the liberation struggle, FRELIMO became estranged from the very people it had
fought to liberate.

The death of prominent hip hop artist Azagaia in March 2023 – a fierce and fearless critic of the
regime – ignited the dormant fire of Mozambique’s own “Arab Spring,” awakening a generation
hungry for justice, dignity, and economic emancipation. Just like in 2008 when he wrote “Povo
no Poder” amidst another wave of protests, his music became the soundtrack to the protests
that followed the rigged municipal elections later in 2023, and again during the general elections
in October 2024.

Last Year’s General Elections

On October 9th, 2024, Mozambique held its seventh general election since the introduction of
multiparty democracy in 1994. The ever-ruling FRELIMO party’s candidate, Daniel Chapo, was
declared the winner with over 70% of the vote.

His main challenger, Venâncio Mondlane – a populist preacher with conservative-leaning
political views and ties, who over the past few years built a strong following by cleverly using
social media to engage and mobilize his supporters – contested the results, claiming to have
won. Allegations of widespread electoral fraud – corroborated by independent observers –
pointed to ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, and manipulated results. Mozambique’s electoral
bodies turned a blind eye to these allegations. The Constitutional Council, seen as politically
captured, upheld the official results, dismissing allegations of fraud. This rubber-stamp decision
further eroded public trust and fueled continued protests.

These fraud allegations sparked protests across the country, both spontaneous and coordinated
by Mondlane and his team. The government responded with denial, downplaying, and heavy-
handed repression, including live ammunition, arbitrary arrests, and beatings.
On October 19 th , two key opposition members – Elvino Dias, Mondlane’s lawyer, and Paulo
Guambe, a senior official in his campaign – were killed in a targeted attack in Maputo, shocking
civil society and intensifying unrest. Mondlane left the country citing serious threats and called
for 25 days of protest – one for each bullet fired at his colleagues.

From then until the end of January 2025, Amnesty International reports over 300 dead, more
than 3,000 injured, and over 3,500 arbitrarily detained. Many remain incarcerated until this day.
These protests were led primarily by young people, unimpressed and disconnected from
FRELIMO’s absence of leadership and vision, deprived and dispossessed by a government that
insists on prioritizing the interests of a few over the future of all. However, very soon it became
evident that the uprise was less of a generational mood and more of a structural socio-economic
crisis, gathering people from all tiers of society, reflecting a shared discontent that transcended
age, class, and background. This was further attested by the geography of the protests: clearly
concentrated around the main urban centers; extractive industries; and transport corridors.
Popular discontent was clearly a reflection of the neoliberal extractives-led and export oriented
paradygm of development in the country. ⁴

In early January 2025, Mondlane returned to Maputo, declaring himself “the people’s president”
outside the airport terminal in a symbolic performance aimed at his supporters. Six days later,
Chapo’s heavily secured inauguration took place at Independence Square with no opposition
presence and hardly no supporters, signaling a display of power rather than legitimacy.
Money talks

But this political crisis is not just about power – it’s also, and perhaps above all, about money. At
the heart of Mozambique’s turmoil lies a ruthless competition for control over the country’s vast
natural resources. FRELIMO’s grip on the state is not ideological or institutional; it is economic.
Political dominance provides access to lucrative contracts, influence over megaprojects, and
control over flows of foreign investment and development aid. In this context, elections are not a
mechanism for democratic choice – they are high-stakes contests to secure the keys to
exploitation. Global capital and their proxies (including foreign aid agencies, embassies, and
above all, transnational corporations) know well which hands to shake – and, as expected, they
also played a key role in legitimizing FRELIMO despite the electoral scandal, and therefore
securing the continuation of their economic interests in the country.

This scenario directly shapes the country’s development path. Rather than fostering inclusive
growth or building resilient, people-centered systems, successive governments have doubled
down on a model of extractivism that prioritizes short-term profits and foreign interests over
long-term national well-being. This corporate capture of the Mozambican state has
systematically eroded public institutions, transformed policy-making into a vehicle for private
profit, and subordinated national sovereignty to the demands of transnational capital. And
nowhere is this clearer than in Cabo Delgado, where offshore gas fields ⁵ – led by companies
like TotalEnergies, ENI and ExxonMobil and backed by national and foreign militaries – have
turned the region into a militarized enclave, displacing communities, fueling conflict, while
further enriching the elite.

The same logic applies to other megaprojects like the planned Mphanda Nkuwa project ⁶ – an
environmentally devastating and socially unjust hydropower dam that threatens to deepen the
country’s dependence on centralized, export-oriented energy systems. And then there are the
heavy sands, the rubies, the eucalyptus plantations, and so many other extractive ventures that
line the pockets of a few while leaving the majority of Mozambicans poorer, more vulnerable,
and increasingly dispossessed.

This is the real cost of a political regime held hostage by the tentacles of organized
transnational capital: a development model that is neither sustainable nor just – one that locks
the country into cycles of debt, dependency, ecological destruction and social unrest. So long as
political power remains the gatekeeper to economic privilege, and development is reduced to a
spreadsheet of megaprojects, Mozambique will continue to stumble forward, rich in resources
but bankrupt in justice. And every chapter of our past has taught us the same lesson: without
justice, there will be no peace.

Justice and Accountability

The road ahead for Mozambique must go beyond the cosmetic gestures of reform that have so
often been used to cleanse the regime’s image in the eyes of the international community. What

the country needs is not another “dialogue” process orchestrated by those in power, while we
continue to witness selective prosecutions designed to ‘calm things down’. True justice must be
people-centered — rooted in the lived experiences of survivors like Orlando, those who have
borne the weight of repression, poverty, and neglect, the families of those killed, and the
thousands who remain missing or unjustly imprisoned. It must be built on truth-telling,
restitution, and the dismantling of the structures that enable state violence and impunity. And to
be meaningful, it must come hand in hand with accountability – at all levels.

The process must recognize the depth of the wounds inflicted upon society and the systemic
nature of this violence, stemming from the necropolitics that sustain our neoliberal economic
policy. Only through genuine accountability, radical systemic transformation and the dismantling
of the neocolonial order can Mozambique begin to rebuild trust between citizens and the state.
Only through a structural overhaul of our development paradigm – one that rejects violent
dispossession and respects peoples’ right to self-determination, heals and restores our sacred
relationship with earth, and ensures a conscious use of our resources for the common good of
current and future generations – will we be able to rebuild a united nation and move forward
together.

As long as this remains a mirage and the new looks very similar to the old, as long as Cardosos,
Siba Sibas, Mataveles, Elvinos continue to be brutally murdered in front of our eyes as a
constant and pungent reminder of our lawlessness, as long as Orlandos are tortured and jailed
for protesting against the grabbing of their land or the stolen votes, the possibility of revolt will
continue to be one centimeter below the surface.

1- https://justicaambiental.wordpress.com/2025/02/12/tortura-coaccao-e-esquizofrenia-geografica-o-caso-da-detencao-de-tres-cidadaos-manifestantes-de-matutuine/

2- https://justicaambiental.wordpress.com/2025/02/18/violacao-da-lei-tortura-e-impunidade-o-novo-normal-da-prm/

3- Hanlon, Joseph. 2025. Moçambique recolonizado através da corrupção.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jWmnGBxGXTQuKAd0Kr3ApmfvTqKPk6Sw/view

4- Feijó, João. 2025. Afinal “foi só Maputo”? – A geografia do protesto pós-eleitoral.
https://omrmz.org/destaque_rural/dr-324-afinal-foi-so-maputo-a-geografia-do-protesto-pos-eleitoral/5

5- https://ja4change.org/2020/06/16/report-release/

6 https://ja4change.org/2025/10/15/press-release-mphanda-nkuwa-dam-project-in-mozambique-green-colonialism-threatening-communities-and-the-zambezi-river/