Sep 04 2025
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Maputo Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian and Sahrawi Peoples

Maputo Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian and Sahrawi Peoples

Demand of the participants of the 9th Maputo Workshop on Corporate Impunity and Human Rights for the liberation of Palestine and Western Sahara, Maputo, 01 August 2025

As people and organizations who have convened from 30 countries in Maputo to build international solidarity and strategise our resistance to the exploitation of our lands and seas by transnational corporations, we recognise their collusion in the occupation of territories of indigenous peoples across the world. This is evident in both Palestine and Western Sahara.

We stand firmly in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are experiencing genocide. The situation in Gaza has deteriorated to unprecedented levels. The Israeli occupation is using mass starvation as a weapon of war, civilians are being denied access to essential food, water and medical supplies, leading to widespread malnutrition and preventable deaths. Residential areas, hospitals, and schools have been subjected to relentless airstrikes, resulting in the deaths of more than sixty thousand civilians, particularly women and children. Over 1.5 million people have been subjected to forced displacement, only to face further attacks. While a silent war is committed in the West Bank and Israel is proceeding with annexation. As highlighted by the latest report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, entitled “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide”, corporations have materially contributed to and profited from the ongoing genocide, by providing Israel with the weapons and machinery required to destroy homes, schools, hospitals, places of leisure and worship, livelihoods and productive assets, to segregate and control communities and to restrict access to natural resources.

As organizations committed to human rights and justice, we urge all governments, civil society organizations, institutions, and individuals to take decisive action against the ongoing genocide.

Western Sahara remains as a colony in Africa, with the majority of its lands occupied by Morocco since 1975, after the sudden exit and unconcluded decolonization of the territory by Spain, the former colonial power. The Sahrawi people have continued their struggle for independence and continue to face human rights violations, including torture and disappearance. Their lands and resources are being carved out both by Morocco and transnational companies, without the consent of the Sahrawi people, which is against international law.

For Palestine, Western Sahara and other occupied territories or territories beset by incessant conflicts, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Cabo Delgado in Mozambique, we condemn all forms of colonisation and we denounce the complicity of transnational corporations. We call for recognition that those countries and citizens across the world who benefit from the resources plundered in occupied territories are complicit in these occupations and brutal human rights violations. We firmly stand in solidarity with the people resisting dispossession and destruction in their territories. We join forces to demand a future where life always comes before profit.

For Palestine, we call for:

  1. Immediate Ceasefire: An unconditional and permanent halt to all military operations in Gaza.
  2. Unrestricted Humanitarian Access: Open the borders and allow for aid organizations to deliver essential supplies to the Gazan people, and for Gazan people to access supplies in safety.
  3. Accountability for War Crimes: Independent investigations into all war crimes and violations of international law, with perpetrators held responsible.
  4. Freedom and Protection for the Palestinian prisoners and end to their inhuman treatment in Israeli Jails.
  5. Free movement of Palestinians: Recognise and ensure the right of Palestinians to free movement.
  6. End the Occupation and affirm Palestinian rights and freedom: We uphold the inalienable human rights of Palestinians to freedom, justice, return, and self-determination, and complete withdrawal of foreign troops and illegal occupiers from Palestinian land.
  7. Boycott, Divestment and Economic Sanctions: Call for governments to cut diplomatic ties, implement trade embargoes and economic sanctions on the Israeli Occupation. To also call for academic and sports boycotts as well as divestment in Israeli Companies.
  8. Stop the supply of Military equipment and Fuel: Call on other countries to immediately stop or cut off the supply of arms and fuel to the Israeli military.
  9. States to uphold their obligations under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Furthermore, we believe that the only just and long term solution is the establishment of a single democratic state, from the river to the sea, where Palestinian refugees return, Israeli settlements are dismantled, and all inhabitants enjoy equal citizenship rights in a decolonized country that guarantees freedom and dignity for everyone through a truth and reconciliation process that addresses historical injustices and provides reparations for Palestinian dispossession.

For Western Sahara, we call for:

  1. End the Illegal Occupation: Call for an end to the Moroccan occupation of the territories of Western Sahara.
  2. Respect for the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people, who must be allowed to freely decide their political future, including by the recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as the legitimate government of Western Sahara.
  3. Return of the Sahrawi refugees, thus ensuring the right for those who live in camps to return to their homeland under safe and dignified conditions.
  4. Freedom of the Political Prisoners: Free all the Sahrawi prisoners unlawfully imprisoned by the occupying power.
  5. Protection of the Natural Resources: End to the plundering of Western Sahara’s natural resources by the occupation power and transnational corporations.
  6. Protection of Human Rights: Ensure the monitoring and protection of human rights in the occupied territories by international independent bodies.
  7. Freedom of Movement for all Sahrawis: Guarantee and ensure the right of movement for all the Sahrawi people.
  8. African States must comply with their regional and international commitments: the African Union and its member States must ensure compliance with the objectives of the Constitutive Act of the Union regarding respect for and protection of the rights of the Sahrawi people under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant instruments on the rights of peoples.

A luta continua!

SIGNATURES

National Organisations

  1. Justiça Ambiental (JA!) – Friends of the Earth Moçambique
  2. Palestine Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON), Friends of the Earth Palestine
  3. National Union of Sahrawi Women (UNMS) – Western Sahara
  4. Les Amis de la Terre – Togo / Friends of the Earth – Togo
  5. Sikkim Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association (SILTA) – North East India
  6. Affected citizens of Teesta (ACT) Sikkim – North East India
  7. Climáximo – Portugal
  8. Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) – India
  9. Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) – Liberia
  10. Núcleo para Desenvolvimento Comunitário de Cabo Delgado (NUDEC) – Moçambique
  11. Centre Congolais pour le ( Droit du ) Développement Durable (CODED) – R.D. Congo
  12. Magamba Network – Zimbabwe
  13. Buni Media – Kenya
  14. Journal Rappe – Senegal
  15. Mouvement Africain pour les Droits Environnementaux dans la région de l’Est BURKINA Faso (MADEE) – Burkina Faso
  16. Natural Resource Women Platform (NRWP) – Liberia
  17. Plataforma da Sociedade Civil da Província de Manica (PLASOC) – Moçambique
  18. Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF) – Zimbabwe 
  19. Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) – Nigeria 
  20. International Labour, Research & Information Group (ILRIG) – South Africa
  21. Help Initiative For Social Justice and Humanitarian Development – Nigeria
  22. Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) Gauteng – South Africa
  23. Landless Peoples Movement – South Africa
  24. West Coast Food Sovereignty and Solidarity Forum – South Africa
  25. South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) – South Africa
  26. Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) – Nigeria
  27. Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement (JVE) – Côte d’Ivoire 
  28. Advocacy Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture (ACSA) – Uganda
  29. Friends of the Earth Japan – Japan
  30. South African BDS Coalition – South Africa
  31. Ondjango Feminista – Angola 
  32. Associação Observatório de Políticas de Género – Angola 
  33. Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine – South Africa 
  34. African Water Commons Collective – South Africa
  35. Women on Mining and Extractives – Sierra Leone
  36. ATTAC CADTM – Togo
  37. Civic Forum on Housing and Habitat – Zambia 
  38. All Youth Foundation for Community Development – Yemen 
  39. Centre for Social Change, University of Johannesburg – South Africa
  40. Community Action Movement – Nigeria
  41. Missão Tabita, Zambézia – Moçambique
  42. Les Amis de la Terre – Belgique (ASBL) – Belgium
  43. groundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa
  44. Participatory Action Research Coalition – India
  45. Rights not Recuse Trust – Namibia
  46. Amigas de la Tierra España / Friends of the Earth Spain
  47. Young Women of Africa (YWOA) 
  48. Amigas da Terra Brasil / Friends of the Earth Brazil
  49. Center for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) – Nepal
  50. The Grail – International Women Movement – Moçambique
  51. Grana Nostra – Collectif Algérien Pour la Biodiversité – Algérie
  52. National Sudanese Women Association (NSWA) – Sudan 
  53. Friends of the Earth Denmark (NOAH) – Denmark
  54. Associação para Promoção dos Direitos de Transgéneros de Moçambique (ANTRA) – Moçambique
  55. Sahabat Alam Malaysia / Friends of the Earth Malaysia (SAM) – Malaysia
  56. Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team (LEAT) / Friends of the Earth Tanzania
  57. Centre For Alternative Research and Studies (CARES) – Mauritius
  58. Censat Agua Viva / Friends of the Earth Colombia
  59. Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF) – Nigeria 
  60. Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center – Friends of the Earth Philippines
  61. Lok Shakti Abhiyan – India
  62. Centre For Studies on Climate Justice – Bhubaneswar, India
  63. Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment & Management (CECIC) – Uganda
  64. Afrikagrupperna – Sweden 
  65. Sahrawi Organization Against Moroccan Occupation – Western Sahara
  66. Association of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara
  67. Association for the Protection of Sahrawi Prisoners in Moroccan prisons – Western Sahara
  68. Association for the Monitoring of the Resources and for the Protection of the Environment in Western Sahara (AMRPENWS) – Western Sahara
  69. Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grace Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State (ASVDH) – Western Sahara
  70. Sahrawi Association for the Protection and Promotion of Sahrawi Culture and Heritage – Western Sahara
  71. Union Nationale des Femmes Algériennes – Western Sahara
  72. Committee for the Defense of the Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara (CODAPSO) – Western Sahara
  73. Committee for the Protection of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders – Western Sahara
  74. Sahrawi Observatory for Child Protection – Western Sahara
  75. Sahrawi Committee of Arbitrarily Dismissed Employees and Workers by Moroccan State – Western Sahara
  76. Committee of the Families of the Abducted – Western Sahara
  77. Committee for the Protection of Natural Resources and Defense of the Settlement Plan – Western Sahara
  78. Port Arthur Community Action Network (PACAN) – United States of America
  79. MA’AN Development Center – Palestine
  80. Arab Agronomists Association (AAA) – Palestine
  81. Rural Women Development Society (RWDS) – Palestine
  82. Union Nationale des Femmes Algériennes (UNFA) – Algérie
  83. Friends of the Earth – Grenada (West Indies) 
  84. Ramani Collective – Kenya
  85. Coletivo Refúgio Humanitário Palestina Brasil
  86. Sunflower Association – Palestine
  87. Comitê Capixabas pela Palestina – Brasil
  88. Zelena akcija / Friends of the Earth Croatia

International / Regional Organisations

  1. La Via Campesina Southern and Eastern Africa (LVC – SEAF)
  2. Convergence Globale des Luttes pour la Terre, l’Eau et  les Semences Paysannes Ouest africain (CGLTE-OA)
  3. Green Advocates International (GAI)
  4. Amigos da Terra África / Friends of the Earth Africa
  5. Housing and Land Rights Network – Habitat International Coalition – Switzerland and Egypt
  6. Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples’ Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity
  7. Africa Just Transition Network (AJTN) – Africa
  8. South Asian Solidarity Collective
  9. Oilwatch Africa
  10. No REDD in Africa Network (NRAN)
  11. Oilwatch International
  12. Laudato Si Movement Africa
  13. Third World Network (TWN)
  14. Womin African Alliance
  15. Asia Peoples Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)
  16. Transnational Institute (TNI) – Netherlands / International
  17. Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities’ and the Environment – Africa
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Jul 22 2025
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9th Maputo Workshop on Corporate Impunity and Human Rights

July 29th to August 1st 2025, Hotel Glória, Maputo – Mozambique

In 2025, amidst huge geopolitical shifts, crises, and televised as well as invisibilized genocides across the globe, the African continent remains an important site of reproduction of the brutal global fossil capitalism – but also of struggle and resistance against it. What we are witnessing is not new: from enclosures of the commons to electoral and constitutional crises to austerity to rolling back of women’s rights to intensified forms of extraction and ecocide to wars to crackdown on political and environmental activists… we are rather experiencing expanded and accelerated forms of accumulation, while being hit by a full-blown climate and ecological breakdown to which we contributed very little. These and other phenomena all have a link with capitalism, either because capitalism feeds them and benefits from them, or because they are more or less direct consequences of capitalism, or simply because they are its breeding ground.

The deep crises in the African region are rooted, among others, in how the wealth of our land and our people continue to be internationally plundered by transnational corporations, facilitated by inherited colonial structures of accumulation. In order to address the existential threat of the climate crisis, our response needs to be radically decolonial, anti-patriarchal and anti-capitalist. 

We hope that the 9th Maputo Workshop on Corporate Impunity and Human Rights serves as a space for exchanges between movements and organisations around the protection of communities rights’ and the environment. It is a call to engage truthfully about our collective commitment to change the current system. How do we reconnect with our African values in order to build a development paradigm that is peoples-centered and in line with the African vision of human dignity? What forms of solidarities (transnational, transversal, cross-movement, feminist etc) are necessary at this precise moment, and how do we deepen them? How are we plotting for our immediate needs and survival, and strengthening our movements from within, in the light of our future anticipated crises? What can we draw from the fees must fall movement in South Africa, the winds of anti-imperialism coming from the Sahel, or the youth uprises in Kenya and Mozambique?

The awakening of Panafrican politics of liberation is urgent – and might well be underway.

For additional information and to register: impunidade.corporativa@gmail.com / +258 84 3106010

May 30 2025
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Why financial institutions should politely look away from ENI’s Coral North FLNGU

Update from ReCommon and Justiça Ambiental!

In January, Italian company ENI announced it would be ready for the Final Investment
Decision for its Coral North FLNG project, but now states it is still negotiating with private
banks for financing, and seems to blame the delay on the Mozambican authorities. In the
meanwhile, one investor has been sued by a civil society organization, and four private
banks have already excluded financing for the project.
Coral North FLNG, a planned floating platform to extract and liquefy gas off the coast of
Mozambique, is still looking for backers. Although Eni declared in January that it was ready
to take the FID on the project, last week, in the context of its AGM, it admitted to
shareholders that “negotiations with private financial institutions are underway”. When
asked about the reasons for the delay in closing the deal, ENI only replied that the
development plan was approved by the Mozambican authorities in April 2025, implying
they were responsible.
ENI leads work on Coral South FLNG, the only operational project in the Rovuma Basin. It is a
floating processing plant anchored in deep ocean that has been exporting LNG since
November 2022. Coral North FLNG would be a replica, gouging its claws into the sea floor
just 10 kilometres away, compounding the impacts on the ecology of the area.
Answering to the AGM questions, ENI also confirmed that “part of the project requirements
are planned to be financed through debt” and with “support from a number of Export Credit
Agencies”, as for Coral South FLNG. However, different private finance actors are moving
towards withdrawal from unconventional upstream oil and gas in order to achieve carbon
neutrality by 2050. At least four of the banks that supported the first project – BNP Paribas,
Credit Agricole, UniCredit and ABN Amro – say they are no longer interested in financing the
replica because it is not in line with their updated climate change policy.
Just over three years since the massive vessel arrived in the Cabo Delgado region, Coral
South has seen multiple cases of excessive flaring – the burning of excess extracted gas,
which results in significant carbon emissions. As a replica, Coral North would likely be
subject to similar issues. An investigation published in April by Italian civil society
organization, ReCommon, revealed that total emissions from Coral South have been
assessed at levels seven times higher than declared in the original environmental impact
assessment (EIA). Between June and December 2022 alone, flaring emissions from the Coral
South FLNG project accounted for 11.2% of Mozambique’s annual emissions, reflecting an
11.68% increase compared to 2021.Proceeding with gas development in the Rovuma Basin ignores the International Institute for
Sustainable Development findings indicating that investment in additional gas infrastructure
is incompatible with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. International Energy
Agency analysis also reveals that, in a 1.5°C scenario, existing LNG export capacity would
already be sufficient to meet current and future demand.
With gas demand declining worldwide, Coral North carries high financial risk, prompting
South Korean civil society organisation, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) to attempt to stop
state investment in the project. In February, Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) announced a
decision to invest USD 562 million in the project through equity and a loan to its subsidiary,
KG Mozambique. In March, SFOC sued KOGAS, arguing that the investment is economically
risky for South Korea, and the project would contribute significantly to climate change
impacts and therefore violate the rights of future generations to a healthy environment.
Between 2008 and April 2024, KOGAS had already invested around USD 1 billion in
Mozambique gas development, but has refused to disclose the preliminary feasibility study
(PFS) for Coral North. SFOC also has an ongoing case against KOGAS for disclosure of the
PFS.
Two other projects in the Rovuma Basin are planning significantly larger onshore processing
facilities, intending to pipe gas from wells about 50 km offshore, Mozambique LNG and
Rovuma LNG. The environmental impacts of the four gas projects together over their entire
lifetimes could be devastating for the Rovuma Basin and the west Indian ocean. The
Environmental Impact Assessment for the Coral North Project has been criticised for failing
to meet legal and scientific standards in assessing environmental and climate risks.
The Mozambique LNG project, led by French fossil giant TotalEnergies remains under
international scrutiny. The project is under force majeure since April 2021, following a
violent insurgent attack. It is now under investigation following reported allegations of a
massacre of civilians that was allegedly committed near the Afungi gas complex in mid 2021
by public security forces. Mozambique LNG shares land-use rights and some infrastructure
with the Rovuma LNG project, which is led by ExxonMobil, with ENI and China National
Petroleum Corporation as major partners. The project also remains without a final
investment decision.
The development of LNG projects in Mozambique also presents severe concerns about
erosion of sovereignty, due to the legal agreements that limit the government’s ability to
regulate these projects and capture fair revenues. Since gas exploitation began around 2010,
the industry has been linked to significant corruption-driven debt, and the government
supports its national oil company’s participation in LNG projects, creating fiscal risk without
guaranteed returns. Local communities have already lost agricultural lands and access to thesea because of the infrastructure development, and hundreds of families were required to
relocate.
Gas revenues so far amount to just over USD 200 million, of which 40% is intended for the
Sovereign Wealth Fund, which was established for stability and savings for future
generations. Last week the Mozambique Administrative Court reported numerous
irregularities in the Financial State Account for 2023 that represent an alleged
“embezzlement” of USD 33 million from Rovuma Gas revenues. In addition, Mozambican
civil society is raising concerns about the funds being allocated to social and economic
projects as provided for in the State Budget.
Developing Mozambique’s LNG industry promises only more harm – ecological destruction
and climate change impact, the destruction of people’s livelihoods, and increased
disenfranchisement and inequality. This is risky business for public and private financial
investors.
Ends

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Mar 19 2025
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March 19 – 5 months without Elvino and Paulo and another month of bloodshed

Crédito da foto: Getty images

In the early hours of 19 October, 2024, Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe were brutally murdered, their bodies riddled with bullets, at the behest of someone who believed that this would silence the VOICE of the people that these two citizens made a point to defend! Five months ago today. In the last five months, the murderers have not been identified, nor have the masterminds, nor is there any effort to solve this and other heinous crimes that have been committed in our country. There is no justice! Since then, many more Mozambican citizens have been silenced in the same brutal way, many others have simply disappeared, and even more remain lost in the meanders of our prison system… deliberately forgotten and mistreated in our police stations and prisons, in a deliberate strategy to stifle and repress our constitutional right to protest. While this and other unsolved crimes remain like a gangrene in our social fabric, our Attorney General’s Office is carrying out investigations that are exposing their politicised and partisan nature.

It is with great anger and sadness that we remember our comrade Elvino, who was always ready to defend the rights of the poorest, most forgotten and most vulnerable people in our country… it is with even greater anger that we continue to witness the total devaluation of the lives of Mozambicans, we are killed for demonstrating, killed for passing near a gathering, killed for thinking differently, killed for no longer agreeing to stand by and watch our country being squandered, killed for pointing out the serious violations of the law, the rampant corruption that everyone swears to fight only to show that it is possible to loot even more… killed for denouncing the constant and endless plunder of the state coffers, the abuse of power, the arrogance and incompetence that is paraded in our public institutions.

Never before in the history of independent Mozambique has our ethical and moral compass pointed to such a deep abyss. From electoral fraud, which Elvino decided to fight “to the end”, to corruption at the highest levels, to the partisanship of the state, to the serious and constant violations of human rights, to the open incitement to hatred and violence by those who misrule our country, we have never sunk so low. However, despite the evidence and the current state of our country, the support of the Global North remains… just so that they can continue to exploit and profit, their greed to exploit our wealth is so superior and “makes impossible” the countless hollow commitments to freedom, democracy, justice and human rights! But we don’t even need to go that far, even African governments, our own brothers and sisters, also pretend not to see while the Mozambican government violates all the precepts of freedom of expression, of demonstration and the most basic human rights, the right to life, perhaps in the hope that the awakening of the people will not spread to their own dynasties.

Today, 18 March, we write these lines and remember Elvino Dias, to the sound of gunfire, because today the People have decided to honor and celebrate their heroes by decreeing a People’s holiday. 18 March marks 2 years since our beloved rapper-activist Azagaia died and the police attacked the mourners as we mourned our fallen hero at his funeral. The police have decided to maintain “order” and “tranquility” in the way they do best, by arresting and killing! As dead, we certainly won’t be able to protest! As dead, we certainly won’t be able to shut down roads or display our posters with our heroes! How many more will have to die before they realize that the more of us they kill, the more revolt they create? How many more have to die before the country comes to a standstill? What do they think, that guns will guarantee peace? We can’t all be silenced!

As dissenting voices are silenced one by one, or two by two with bullets in their cars, we are not just witnessing political crimes, but the crumbling of the very moral fabric that should unite us as a nation. To all those who stubbornly continue to raise their voices, who stubbornly continue to demand justice, freedom and rights for all… the struggle continues!

Enough of state terrorism!

Enough of impunity!

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Feb 28 2025
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PRESS RELEASE: Justiça Ambiental wins legal battle against the Mphanda Nkuwa dam implementation office: the government is now obliged to provide information about the project

The Maputo City Administrative Court (TACM in its Portuguese abbreviation) has just ordered the Mphanda Nkuwa Hydroelectric Project Implementation Office (GMNK) and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME) to provide the information requested by Mozambican organisation Justiça Ambiental (JA!). In case no. 63/2024, JA! had appealed to the Court requesting that the GMNK and MIREME be ordered to provide information on safeguarding the fundamental rights of local communities affected by the implementation of the controversial Mphanda Nkuwa dam, proposed to be built on the Zambezi River in Tete province.

Background

The battle for access to information relating to the latest stage of the Mphanda Nkuwa project has been going on since 2019. Since then, JA! has made numerous and successive attempts to obtain information from the GMNK, through letters and even meetings, about the studies that will be carried out and their respective terms of reference, how new components will be integrated into the studies (bearing in mind that issues such as climate change, for example, have never been covered in previous studies), how the project will ensure that the voices and rights of local communities will be respected, among many other questions. Despite an apparent openness to dialogue with JA!, the GMNK has always limited itself to evasive, superficial answers, without providing any of the documents requested.

On March 6th 2024, JA! once again formally requested information on measures to protect the fundamental rights of local communities. However, the GMNK’s response was once again superficial, limiting itself to saying that the process of updating the technical studies was underway (an excuse that has been served up to us since April 2021). MIREME, for its part, didn’t even respond to the request, completely ignoring the letter sent by JA!

This stance by both GMNK and MIREME denotes a disastrous attempt to shirk their responsibility to provide information that is essential to the process of implementing the project. The information requested should be available, as it would serve to guarantee transparency, legality and preventive monitoring of the impacts on the rights of the affected communities. The secrecy and obscurantism that have permeated this project from the outset (including in stages long prior to 2018), in addition to the serious risks and impacts already identified by numerous experts and organisations, raise serious doubts about the alleged benefits touted by the government. At the same time, local communities have been reporting situations of intimidation, threats and even arbitrary arrests against those who question the development of the project. How can Mphanda Nkuwa really contribute to the country’s development if it needs to hide the steps it is taking and repress those most affected?

On 2 April 2024, JA! decided to escalate the issue to the Court (TACM), and submitted a request for it to order the government to make the requested information available.

The arguments used by the government

After being notified by the court, GMNK claimed that local communities had been actively involved, and that it holds meetings with local leaders, civil society and the media to share information about the project. The GMNK also tried to justify the lack of information by claiming that the studies had not yet reached the public participation stage. However, GMNK’s claim that community participation is restricted to the ‘public hearing’ process – the stage at which the environmental and social feasibility studies will actually be presented – does not reflect a real commitment to consulting communities, nor does it comply with the Administrative Procedures Act, a fact that the court did not hesitate to clarify. Law 07/2014 is clear: administrative authorities must guarantee public consultation and provide the information requested, except in the case of documents classified as secret or confidential, which is not the case here.

As for MIREME, it merely reproduced GMNK’s arguments and asked for the subpoena request to be rejected, claiming that our request was false, hasty and presumptuous. Apparently, MIREME thinks it’s ‘presumptuous’ for us to request public information about a project financed with public money, but it doesn’t think it’s presumptuous to decide the fate of entire communities without consulting them. Interesting definition of presumption!

A historical decision

The Maputo City Administrative Court then ruled in favour of JA!, determining that GMNK and MIREME must provide the requested information, regardless of the stage the studies are at, within 10 days. Failure to comply with this decision could result in the offence of qualified disobedience, as well as civil and disciplinary liability, according to article 110, no. 2 of the same law.

This historic decision by the TACM represents a decisive moment for the defence of the rights of local communities that are being threatened by the Mphanda Nkuwa dam project, and for the fight for the right to information in our country. The ruling reaffirms the constitutional right of access to information on projects that directly affect the environment and communities. By ordering the GMNK and MIREME to provide the information requested, the court establishes that transparency cannot be delayed or conditioned on arbitrary government timetables.

This decision also creates a legal tool that other civil society organisations and/or communities affected by megaprojects can use in similar cases, invoking this precedent to demand greater transparency.

“JA! welcomes this decision, and we reiterate that no so-called development project should go ahead without making available all the information needed and required by local communities and other social actors, so that this information can be properly evaluated, debated, and so that we can make better development decisions. This decision is also a big step towards materialising the right to say NO to megaprojects that cannot prove their alleged benefits, or that are already implicated in human rights violations, as is the case with Mphanda Nkuwa. Nothing about us without us!”

– Anabela Lemos, director of  Justiça Ambiental JA!

Ruling No 65/2024

Acordao TACM Mphanda Nkuwa 19 Fev 2025Download

Read more about the environmental, social, climate and economic risks associated with the Mphanda Nkuwa dam

JA’s summary of MNK concerns_FEBRUARY 2025Download
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Jan 06 2025
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Post-Election Crisis in Mozambique and Protests at Multinationals

The electoral crisis unfolding in Mozambique since the October 2024 elections stems from a long-standing period of widespread discontent and dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction is driven by precarious living conditions, social and gender inequality, youth unemployment, rising crime rates in urban centres, extreme vulnerability to climate events, continuous dependency on foreign economic aid, and political violence. Many promises were made that the exploitation of Mozambique’s natural resources would meet the needs of over 30 million citizens. These promises accompanied the licensing and concessions granted to foreign multinationals and their megaprojects. However, after 20 years of operation for some of these projects, young Mozambicans and others see their expectations unfulfilled.

Additionally, various social, professional, and community groups have begun showing fearless courage, taking to the streets to express their frustration after nearly 50 years of oppression. Communities affected by the extractive industry have found an opportunity to voice their demands for the promised benefits. However, these benefits exist only on paper. Misery, suffering, and hopelessness remain the tangible impacts felt daily by Mozambicans in rural areas directly affected by extractive industries.

In the district of Larde, specifically in the locality of Topuito, heavy sands are extracted by the Irish company Kenmare. After 20 years of exploitation, unjust resettlements, and the destruction of livelihoods in surrounding communities, no plausible or significant benefits have been delivered to these people. They are treated as mere chess pieces, displaced to make way for extraction. The invasion of Kenmare’s camp on 6 December, amid post-election protests, was a clear demonstration of the dissatisfaction felt by the Topuito and Larde communities. They cannot understand how or why they lost their lands to a company that has brought no positive change to their lives.

The breaking point for these communities lies in the worst of all the false promises made by the government and Kenmare: the construction of a bridge connecting Topuito to the district capital of Larde. This dates back to 2016 when Kenmare decided to expand its heavy sands extraction area to include the community’s sacred forest, which housed Mount Felipe. According to local belief, this forest was home to protective spirits and rain-bringers, as well as a source of healing waters symbolised by a giant serpent residing on the mountain.

The community initially resisted Kenmare’s activities in the sacred area, believing that the destruction of Mount Felipe would bring misfortune and that local leaders would not survive such sacrilege. However, with unconditional support from the provincial government, a meeting was held with traditional leaders, culminating in the surrender of the sacred site to Kenmare. Interestingly, the local chief died immediately after signing the documents. Was it the wrath of the spirits or another cause? No one knows.

In truth, the exchange for the sacred site, Kenmare had promised to construct a bridge connecting Topuito to the district capital. Beyond its sacred cultural and traditional significance, the site also served as a landmark for fishermen navigating their return home. The consensus sought was to expand the extraction area while preserving a minimum space respecting community values and beliefs at Mount Felipe. But, as always, community interests were neglected, and today nothing remains of Mount Felipe except white, barren sand, stripped of all its properties by the unrestrained capitalist greed of the machinery.

This, among other reasons, led to the camp’s invasion, the pursuit of an aircraft, vehicles forcibly taken to join protests in Moma, and Kenmare being compelled to sign an agreement to begin construction of the promised bridge in 2016. Just as Kenmare had coerced traditional leaders to surrender the sacred mountain with government support, it was now forced to honour its word, delivering at least the minimum after years of extracting heavy sands and reaping millions in profits.

On Monday, 9 December, the day another supposed groundbreaking ceremony for the bridge was to take place, the community was met with a heavy military contingent. Without hesitation, they opened fire on demonstrators. The company later told the press the situation was “under control.”

Many wonder where the anger and fury visible on the faces of the protesters come from. It stems from years of exploitation without return, false promises, and blatant corruption. Similar situations have occurred in Palma, in the Afungi Peninsula, where communities like Macala and Mangala had to block TotalEnergies’ gates for two weeks to finally have their concerns addressed after waiting months for compensation. Their complaints had been ignored since the previous year.

Some might question what foreign investments have to do with electoral issues, arguing that they only bring jobs and revenue to the country. However, they are deeply intertwined, symbolising power and exploitation of the most disadvantaged social groups. These investments represent exclusion from job opportunities for local youth, flouting laws while being shielded by the government. They act in partnership to destroy community livelihoods and spread false promises.

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Dec 30 2024
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2 Months of Mourning, 2 Months of Struggle

(Posted in Portuguese on the 19th)

Today, 19 December 2024, we remember with great pain and outrage the brutal assassination of Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, which occurred two months ago. We are still waiting for answers and justice regarding Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe! Who ordered the killings? Who pulled the trigger? We will not forget, and we will not stop demanding justice, even knowing that our justice system is deficient, partisan, and shamefully slow.

Our anguish and outrage have only grown, as has the number of Mozambicans killed (at least 130 people), injured, arrested, and tortured by the State Defence and Security Forces. So many Mozambicans have been murdered for demanding electoral justice and standing up for their rights that they have now become numbers — 130 people. But who are these Mozambicans? The deaths have become so great we cannot name them, they have been reduced to numbers. Yet they are not just numbers; they are Mozambican citizens who had families, dreams, and aspirations. They went out to protest for those dreams, for their rights, for our rights and freedoms… Therefore, this is not merely about 130 mourning families; we are all in mourning and stand, not only with these families, but also with those who risk their lives everyday.

No words can ease the pain of those who have lost their loved ones in such a manner. It wasn’t an accident, an illness, or old age; they were barbarically murdered by the very police who swore to protect them.

We demand justice. We demand that all these cases be thoroughly investigated and that all those involved — from the shooters to those who gave the orders from their offices, and even those who had the power to stop this massacre but failed to act, making them accomplices — be held accountable. Today, these words take on a new dimension. When we demand justice, we usually direct our demands at a specific entity. But today, we are unsure who that entity is. To whom do we demand this justice? The State? But it was the State Defence and Security Forces that killed, arrested, and persecuted demonstrators. The Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which remains silent and acts only in defence of the corrupt and against opposition parties? We have never seen justice come from the PGR, making it hard to believe it ever will.

The current situation only confirms what we and so many others have been denouncing for years: the State and its institutions are completely co-opted and partisan, serving only the ruling party, which clings to power through these very State institutions. This includes the State Defence and Security Forces, which follow illegal orders and murder citizens protesting against grave and evident rights violations and abuses of power.

The actions of the Constitutional Council (CC) are merely the latest act in this orchestrated circus. Today, we see judges behaving like soap opera actors, arrogantly and pompously presenting themselves as the ultimate arbiters of truth while we all wait anxiously for their decision about our fate.

If we recall the process of validating the highly contested and irregular 2023 municipal elections, which this same body approved, it becomes clear that expecting truth and justice from the CC is as likely as expecting well-known corrupt individuals to voluntarily turn themselves in and return all they have stolen from our country. In other words, highly improbable.

Our greatest hope at this moment is for the CC to surprise us and show that they truly stand for truth and justice so that we can rebuild our country based on the people’s rights, centred on justice and equality for all.

Until then, we will continue to remember and honour all those who, believing in a fairer country for all of us, were barbarically murdered. From mourning, we rise to struggle for the country we believe we can build together.

Forever in our hearts, Dear Elvino.

Forever in our hearts, Dear Paulo.

Nov 18 2024
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“A  terra é dos moçambicanos, não é da França” ‘The land belongs to Mozambicans, not to France’

Two week long PROTEST CONTINUES against TotalEnergies and its. Mozambique LNG gas project for RESETTLEMENT VIOLATIONS

IN Afungi Communities, Palma District, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
15 November 2024, 12H00 CAT
Justiça Ambiental!, Maputo

Demonstrations SHUT the gates of TotalEnergies Afungi site

This morning, members of the Macala and Mangala Communities, have been gathering again since early light to continue their two weeks of demonstration against the violations of their land rights by Mozambique LNG gas project, operated by TotalEnergies. Yesterday’s demonstration was attended by at least 400 people. This morning, the number of demonstrators is already high and still increasing. Following yesterday’s attempts by district and provincial governments to convince them to leave the area, the situation is escalating. This morning, families from a third community, Quitunda Resettlement Village, are growing the ranks. 

“tal como  estamos a parar a produção de alimentos, 
a empresa  também deve parar as suas actividades”

“just as we are stopping food production, 
the company should stop their activities as well”

In a context of national strikes and demonstrations aimed at demanding electoral justice, the Mozambican people are taking advantage of this moment to express their discontent at the social injustice to which they have been subjected for 50 years. A visibly tired and angry people are taking to the streets to express their indignation at a precarious health system, the poor or non-existent quality of education, a bad transport system, the increase in crime, the lack of access to employment for young people and adults, and to seek measures to end the hunger that hangs over Mozambican families, at a time when – for 20 years – natural resource exploitation projects have been the promise of a better Mozambique for all Mozambicans. 

The scene in Afungi today: the demonstrators have split into four groups and obstructed movement at four of the gates to the TotalEnergies Afungi site. 

The resettlement process in Afungi has been underway since 2019, with the initial plan to resettle 556 families, and since then many more families have been resettled, yet few of these families have received replacement land for fields that they can use. In addition, there are those who gave up their land for fields for resettled families’ but have not been compensated to date. These are the main groups who have been demanding their rights at the company gates.

Justiça Ambiental says: “The resettlement process has been characterised by a large number of irregularities which has caused the discontent that culminated in these demonstrations.”

The communities state their concerns relate to: 

  • Refusal to pay compensation for the agreements signed between the project and around 445 households, relating to the occupation of land intended for families resettled in Quitunda. These agreements were signed between October 2023 and February 2024. According to clause 4.5(a) of these agreements, the affected families are obliged to cede their land and all assets on it in favour of the project within 30 days of signing these agreements.
  • Refusal to sign agreements for the payment of compensation for the lands that the project mapped and surveyed, belonging to 158 households in the same two communities. The mapping was carried out between October 2023 and March 2024 by the company.

The communities of Macala and Mangala have made several complaints to the project regarding these matters. In August 2024 TotalEnergies’ representatives in the resettlement area met with the affected families and informed them that the project would not pay compensation to them. This decision was made without respect or consultation with the communities, and the company did not provide a reason for the decision. 

This pronouncement not only created a climate of uncertainty and despair among the members of these two communities, but has also caused major frustrations. 

It is a rule established by the project in all the affected communities for the families affected to immediately suspend any activity related to agricultural production or maintenance of the affected fields. This rule aims to combat opportunism on the one hand and to ensure that the project compensates the affected properties at the time of mapping. This rule has also been complied with by the affected families.

In the Macala and Mangala communities, 445 families have signed compensation agreements and 158 affected families have not yet. All 603 families affected by the project have been banned from using their land since October 2023. This is land that the project has already used –  making roads through the middle of what used to be important food fields. The demonstrators explain that the frustrations in their communities are also very much about lost time. 

Community members say they consider this situation to be unfair to them and threatening to their lives, because the land occupied by the project is the only source of their survival. 

In September 2024, the members of the Macala and Mangala communities wrote a letter to the Palma district government presenting these concerns and frustrations. The letter also informed the PRM (police) district command and the district administrator about the communities’ intention to hold a demonstration. The demonstrations were postponed by the district administrator, who said they were in discussion with the provincial government about the complaints.


On 2nd November 2024, Macala and Mangala community members began their demonstrations. On that day, they closed the roads that were built through their fields and put up posters explaining their discontent. This did not have a negative impact on the work and movement of the project and its contractors. 

On 8th November 2024, protesters gathered at the main gate leading to the entrance to the project camp. On that day the demonstration forced the closure of the entrance and exit of the project staff and their contractors. Community members interrupted their protest only after negotiations with the District Administrator at the site. 

The demonstration resumed on 11th November 2024, lasting the whole day. At the end of the day, the administrator told the demonstrators that the Governor of Cabo Delgado Province would meet them on 14 November 2024 for negotiations that could provide answers to their demands. 

At the moment, 15 November 2024, the governor and the administrator are inside the TotalEnergies Afungi camp, and information about what is being discussed there will only be known when they return to the population.

There is a clear indication that the gas affected communities intend to remain at the gates. Now, we await news. 

Contact: Kete Mirela Fumo / kete.ja.mz@gmail.com 

Background

The Mozambique LNG project, operated by TotalEnergies, was allocated land rights to about 7,000 hectares of land on the Afungi Peninsula, as well as rights to coastal areas, for its infrastructure and operations, This required communities who were living and conducting their livelihoods in the area to resettle. The project is required to compensate those affected. Even though TotalEnergies declared in May 2024, that all compensations had been paid, this is evidently not the case. Testimonies from affected people can be viewed here [https://stopmozgas.org/from-the-ground/video-testimonies/]

There are complaints registered in all communities affected by the project regarding the lack of housing, machambas (farmlands) and partial or lack of compensation payments. In the communities of Quitunda, Senga, Mangala, Macala, Maganja and Palma Village there are people who are yet to receive compensation or who have received part of the compensation, and others who have not signed agreements yet. Evidence is emerging of even more violations of the rights of people in relation to the project activities. 

Justiça Ambiental! (JA!) / Friends of the Earth Mozambique: JA! is a civil society organisation in Mozambique that supports environmental justice at community, national and international level. JA! views the environment as an holistic concept and thus environmental justice as the act of using the environment as a vehicle for ensuring equity and equality across society. In support of sustainable development they view the concept of equality on a grand scale, and as such, values the rights of future generations to a healthy and safe environment, to the same degree that that right is valued for humanity. JA! received the Silver Rose Just Transition Award 2023 for their fight for a just transition and against fossil fuel projects and land grabs in Mozambique. In 2024, JA!’s director, Anabela Lemos is being honoured with the Right Livelihoods Award. Justiça Ambiental! (JA!) is Portuguese for Environmental Justice! and ‘ja’ means ‘now’ in Portuguese. 

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Oct 02 2024
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Activists across the globe call on banks and investors to stop financing TotalEnergies

[New York/Frankfurt/Paris, 2nd October 2024] – On Wednesday 2nd October, climate activists are protesting in New York, where TotalEnergies is hosting its main investors. Actions are also taking place this week at the headquarters of TotalEnergies’ investors and banks in Frankfurt and Paris. Activists are calling on investors and banks to make an immediate commitment to stop issuing or buying new bonds from TotalEnergies, as well as to stop all support for companies developing new oil and gas projects.

Bonds represented more than two-thirds of TotalEnergies’ external financing in recent years (1). In 2024, TotalEnergies raised $7.25 billion through bonds, which the company will fully reimburse over decades (2). 

Earlier this year some 60 NGOs called on banks and investors to stop lending to TotalEnergies, due to the energy giant’s ‘climate-wrecking strategy’ (3). Following the letter, French banks BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole announced that they would no longer participate in conventional bond issuances for companies in the oil and gas sector (4). 

Climate justice movements, organizations and activist –  including 350.org Justiça Ambiental, Liveable Arlington, MilieuDefensie, Stop Total France, the Toxic Bonds Network and urgewald – are urging other financial institutions to follow suit and stop support – including participating in the issuance and purchase of new bonds – for TotalEnergies and other companies developing new oil and gas projects.

While TotalEnergies’ investors will be shaking hands at its Investor Day in New York over financial support that will fund the company’s oil expansion 40 years into the future, activists will remind them of what this means for the climate. They will in particular denounce the EACOP project, which TotalEnergies continues to promote despite the heavy repression faced by communities and activists opposing it (5). So far 27 commercial banks have publicly committed not to support the EACOP project (6). The project has so far been financed by equity capital from its shareholders, including TotalEnergies (7). Bonds are likely to be significant to the development of such projects, as they allow the company to raise large amounts of money without conditions regarding their use (8). 

Molly Ornati from 350Brooklyn.org : “In Uganda, community members and activists are constantly intimidated, arrested and prosecuted for defending their basic rights. Demonstrations which simply demand fair compensation, an end to displacement, and a halt to environmental destruction are met with police violence and arrests. While international banks across the globe have turned their backs on the EACOP project, they continue allowing the company to go ahead with its oil and gas projects through other financing methods such as bonds. Financiers should immediately stop distributing blank cheques to TotalEnergies.”

Protesters will also denounce the Mozambique LNG project, which has been suspended for 3 years and was recently under criticism due to reports of alleged atrocities committed by Mozambican armed forces near the project’s premises (9) and TotalEnergies’ shale gas projects in Texas (10).

Ranjana Bhandari, director of Liveable Arlington in Arlington, Texas and home to 400,000 residents exposed to Total’s ongoing urban fracking operations stated:  “The ongoing fracking operations of the French energy giant TotalEnergies’ are placing thousands of families and children at risk in the city of Arlington, around Texas, and other locations across the nation and worldwide. It’s time consumers and investors demand American banks such as Citi, JP Morgan, and Bank of America stop funding these long-term bonds that are harming the very residents in the cities where these banks are operating.” 

Anabela Lemos, from Justiça Ambiental, Mozambique: “The TotalEnergies gas project in Cabo Delgado is associated with land grabbing, lost livelihoods and human rights violations, alongside a violent conflict. TotalEnergies is now planning to co-develop the controversial Mphanda Nkuwa mega dam in the Zambezi river. Even before construction has started, local communities are reporting intimidations and human rights violations to force them to accept the project. If the dam goes ahead, this biodiversity hotspot might suffer irreversible damage and thousands of families will lose their lands, livelihoods and futures.  Financiers are ethically bound to refuse support for TotalEnergies trail of destruction across the world.”

END

**********************

Press contacts : 

Anabela Lemos, Justiça Ambiental, anabela.ja.mz@gmail.com

Ranjana Bandhari, Liveable Arlington, liveablearlington@gmail.com 

Melanie Smith, 350.org US melanie.smith@350.org 

About the actions:

  • New York City : the action is taking place at 8:00AM at the headquarters of Citibank. Press is welcome]. Citi is the most important underwriter of TotalEnergies’s ongoing bonds (11), top bank in the US between 2021 and 2023 (12) and participated in underwriting TotalEnergies’ $3 billion bonds issue on September 10th 2024. 
  • Frankfurt: onThursday 26 October, a protest took place in front of Deutsche Bank’s Headquarters in Frankfurt. Pictures are available here Deutsche Bank is the third most important underwriter of TotalEnergies’s ongoing bonds (11), top bank in Germany between 2021 and 2023 (12) and participated in underwriting TotalEnergies’ $4.25 billion bonds issue on April 5th 2024. DWS, Deutsche Bank’s asset management subsidiary, is the first investor of TotalEnergies in Germany (12). 

Pictures are available upon request to the press contacts. 

Notes : 

(1) Between 2016 and 2023, 69.8% of TotalEnergies’ financing came from bonds, according to data from Banking On Climate Chaos, 2024

(2) The average maturity (date on which the bond matures and must be repaid by the issuing company) of bonds issued by TotalEnergies between 2020 and 2024 was 22 years compared to 6 years for those issued between 2000 and 2004, according to a recent study by AFII, 2024.

(3) The Brussels Times, Nearly 60 NGOs call on banks and investors to stop lending to TotalEnergies, 2024

(4) Reclaim Finance, BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole Say No to Bonds for the Oil and Gas Sector, 2024

(5) #STOPEACOP, Uganda Silences EACOP Critics: Activists and Affected Communities Detained, 2024

(6)  #STOPEACOP Who’s Behind EACOP?, 2024

(7) The project’s shareholders are TotalEnergies, China National Offshore Corporation, Uganda National Oil Company and Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation.

(8)  Reclaim Finance, TotalEnergies and financial markets: Financial institutions engaged for decades of pollution, 2024

(9) Politico, All must be beheaded”: Allegations of atrocities at French energy giant’s African stronghold, 2024

and Say No to Gas ! in Mozambique, Call for investigation into reports of atrocities committed near TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG premises, 2024

(10) Liveable Arlington

(11) For a more global view on TotalEnergies’ most significant underwriters and facilitators since 2016, refer to the Banking on Climate Chaos report

(12) Defund TotalEnergies, Who is financing TotalEnergies? 

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Sep 27 2024
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International NGOs call for immediate official investigation into reports of series of atrocities committed by Mozambican security forces near TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG premises

 Joint NGO statement

26 September 2024. Statement by: Justiça Ambiental  / Friends of the Earth Mozambique; Les Amis de la Terre France / Friends of the Earth France; Milieudefensie / Friends of the Earth Netherlands; Friends of the Earth Europe; Friends of the Earth Japan; Friends of the Earth US; ReCommon; Reclaim Finance.

On September 26, 2024, Politico published an article by independent journalist Alex Perry [1] which reveals information about an alleged massacre of civilians, reported to have been committed near TotalEnergies’ premises in mid 2021 by Mozambican public security forces.

Anabela Lemos, Director of Justiça Ambiental / Friends of the Earth Mozambique, says: “This information cannot be ignored by the financial institutions supporting the French fossil fuel giant’s activities in Mozambique, including the financial arms of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy. In multiple reports and meetings, we and our partners have warned companies, banks and states about the risks associated with this project and the serious flaws in the human rights due diligence carried out by TotalEnergies [2]. TotalEnergies’ responsibility is again today called into question by this reporting on further alleged atrocities surrounding the gas project”.

The article outlines alleged events in July-September 2021, three months after a major insurgent attack on Palma town that spurred increased militarisation of the region. According to the article, Mozambican troops assaulted hundreds of civilians who were seeking safety, and imprisoned the men in windowless, metal shipping containers near the entrance of the Mozambique LNG site. The article reports that men – 180 to 250 individuals – were detained for 3 months, denied water, starved, beaten, suffocated, tortured, stabbed and, finally, most of them “disappeared”. Only 26 of the prisoners are estimated by the investigation team to have survived.” Women were subjected to humiliation and repeated sexual assault for a day or two, before being released.

Alex Perry has previously published articles about the violent conflict in the province of Cabo Delgado and the controversial impacts of the Mozambique LNG project. In the aftermath of the March and April 2021 insurgent attacks on the town of Palma, he conducted in-depth research to uncover the number of fatalities incurred during the massacre [3]. The attacks led to TotalEnergies’ declaration of force majeure and the suspension of the project in April 2021.

A legal complaint was filed in 2023 by victims’ families and attack survivors, accusing the French energy company of failing to protect its subcontractors and failing to provide fuel so that helicopters could evacuate civilians during the Palma attack [4]. Following the complaint, the French public prosecutor asked TotalEnergies’ for comments on the complaint to then decide whether to pursue the case, close it or carry out further investigations [5]. 

Amnesty International accused the Mozambican security forces of war crimes in 2021 [6]. Until recently, TotalEnergies was directly providing equipment and financial compensation to the Joint Task Force (JTF) of the Mozambican army under an agreement that the JTF would “ensure the security” of the project activities – and now pays the government instead ​​​[7]. A 2023 report commissioned by TotalEnergies itself concluded that a permanent link between Mozambique LNG and the Mozambican army “would have the effect […] of making the project a party to the conflict” in the meaning of the Geneva Convention. [8].

State and private actors involved in the financial support [9] of the project have been warned about the threats the project poses to regional security and human rights, as well as the climate and environmental impacts [10]. Information obtained via Freedom of Information requests has revealed that despite these warnings, as well as concerns expressed by decision makers, support for the project was pushed through [11].

The Politico journalistic investigation into this massacre draws fresh attention to TotalEnergies’ controversial links to the Mozambican army, and specifically its relationship with the forces accused of severe crimes that might be considered war crimes. According to the article, “The commandos were based on TotalEnergies’ compound. They ran their detention-and-execution operation from the petroleum giant’s gatehouse.” The Mozambican commando unit was furthermore reported to be led by an officer who said his mission was to protect the “project of Total”. The managing director of Mozambique LNG project, Maxime Rabilloud, says TotalEnergies had “no knowledge of the alleged events described”, nor “any information indicating that such events took place”. In addition, Rabilloud stated that the company had no presence on the ground at the time of the alleged events and is taking the “message very seriously given the gravity of the allegations”. The article reports that the Mozambican ministry of defense and the Mozambican presidency did not reply to requests for comment.

The article asserts, “there are grounds for a prosecutor to think that Mozambique LNG and its parent company TotalEnergies had sufficient cause to investigate whether human rights abuses were being committed by its defenders in its absence.”

The NGOs behind the “Say No to Gas! in Mozambique” campaign call on all public and private actors involved in the project and its financing to immediately act to ensure truth, justice and reparation for the survivors and the victims’ families. They call for an immediate official investigation on the events and on TotalEnergies’ potential role, due to its cooperation with security forces that are accused of severe crimes, including rape, murder, torture, which may constitute war crimes.

Press contacts

  • Justiça Ambiental / Friends of the Earth Mozambique: Daniel Ribeiro, daniel.ja.mz@gmail.com, +258 86 620 5608, Anabela Lemos, anabela.ja.mz@gmail.com, +258 87 195 3602 
  • Les Amis de la Terre France / Friends of the Earth France: Lorette Philippot, lorette.philippot@amisdelaterre.org, +33 640188284
  • ReCommon (Italy): Simone Ogno, simoneogno@recommon.org, +39 3491303455
  • Milieudefensie / Friends of the Earth Netherlands: Isabelle Geuskens, isabelle.geuskens@milieudefensie.nl, 0031621829589; Marie-Sol Reindl, marie-sol.reindl@milieudefensie.nl, +31611084291
  • Friends of the Earth Europe: Paul de Clerck, paul.declerck@foeeurope.org, +32494380959
  • Friends of the Earth Japan: Ayumi Fukakusa, fukakusa@foejapan.org, +818069170794
  • Friends of the Earth US: Kate de Angelis, kdeangelis@foe.org, +0012023204742
  • Reclaim Finance : Antoine Bouhey, +33781846775

Notes

[1] Perry, A. 2024. ‘”All must be beheaded”: Allegations of atrocities at French energy giant’s African stronghold’. Politco. Published 26 September 2024. https://www.politico.eu/article/totalenergies-mozambique-patrick-pouyanne-atrocites-afungi-palma-cabo-delgado-al-shabab-isis/

[2] Uprights, July 2023, ‘Assessment of TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG Project Human Rights due diligence’​.​https://friendsoftheearth.eu/publication/totalenergies-fails-on-human-rights-in-mozambique-lng-project/ 

[3] Perry, 2023. ‘Palma massacre’.https://www.alex-perry.com/palma-massacre/
The findings are published on the research platform ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data). https://acleddata.com/knowledge-base/9-april-2024-update-new-fatality-estimate-for-the-2021-attack-on-palma-mozambique/
Perry’s research established that 1,193 Mozambican civilians were killed or went missing, and The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) confirmed 801 deaths.

[4] www.amisdelaterre.org/communique-presse/total-faces-criminal-charges-in-french-courts-for-its-negligence-during-the-palma-attack-in-northern-mozambique/ 

[5] www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/05/04/france-probes-totalenergies-over-2021-mozambique-attack_6670395_7.html 

[6] Amnesty International, 2021. ‘What I saw is death: war crimes in Mozambique’s forgotten Cape’.https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr41/3545/2021/en/

[7] www.zitamar.com/inside-the-new-security-deal-between-mozambique-and-gas-project-investors/
TotalEnergies, 2020, ‘Total signs agreement with the Government of Mozambique regarding the security of Mozambique LNG project’.https://totalenergies.com/media/news/press-releases/total-signs-agreement-government-mozambique-regarding-security-mozambique

[8] Rufin and Glowacki, 2023. ‘Report on the socioeconomic, humanitarian and human rights situation in the Palma-Afungi-Mocímboa area‘, page 20. Commissioned by TotalEnergies. https://totalenergies.com/sites/g/files/nytnzq121/files/documents/2023-05/Mozambique_LNG_report.pdf

[9] 28 financial institutions took part in the 14.9 billion dollars project financing in July 2020. ECAs include Export Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM), UK Export Finance (UKEF), Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE), Atradius Dutch State Business (ADSB). Commercial banks include Société Générale (the financial advisor of TotalEnergies for the project), Crédit Agricole, JPMorgan, Mizuho Bank, Standard Chartered Bank. See full list: www.amisdelaterre.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/summary—-financial-institutions-involvement-in-the-mozambique-lng-gas-project-2.pdf 

[10] The Mozambique LNG project will produce between 3.3 and 4.5 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent over its lifecycle, more than the combined annual greenhouse gas emissions of all 27 EU countries. Friends of the Earth EWNI and the New Economics Foundation, October 2021. Tip of the iceberg : the future of fossil fuel extraction.
https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/print/pdf/node/237

[11] Knoote and Rosenhard, ‘Acceptable Risk? How the security threat in Cabo Delgado was ignored for the benefit of ‘The Netherlands Ltd.’, June 2024, Milieudefensie and Both Ends. https://en.milieudefensie.nl/news/government-wrong-again-mozambique-gas

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