Emirati forces allegedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment a Yemeni national inside secret detention centres across the Shabwah governorate, Yemen, in 2018. The victim was detained for two weeks inside the Balhaf coalition base located inside a gas liquefaction plant, in which the French company Total holds substantial interests.

MENA Rights Group stated that even though the United Arab Emirates (UAE) should be held accountable for the violations committed in Balhaf, French Company Total should not be exempt from liability either. The NGO said that the Yemen LNG project "fell outside of Total's Vigilance Plan", and that there were outstanding questions that it asked Total: 1) to state whether Total has up-to-date information on the current presence of Emirati troops on the Balhaf site, 2) to provide more explanations as to why the Yemen LNG project allegedly does not fall under Total's 2019 Vigilance Plan in light of the degree of control it exercises over Yemen LNG, 3) to clarify whether Total has taken any steps with the Emirati authorities since it was made aware of the serious human rights violations committed in Balhaf and 4) in the event that Total does not possess leverage on the Emirati forces, clarify whether, as Yemen LNG’s main shareholder, it intends to withdraw from the Yemen LNG project in light of the reported human rights violations.

We invited Total to respond and their response can be found linked below.