US Court Revives Indonesia Case against Exxon

A federal appeals court is reviving a lawsuit by Indonesians who want Exxon Mobil Corp. held responsible for deadly attacks by security forces more than a decade ago, according to the Associated Press. A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said Friday in a 2-1 ruling that a trial judge was wrong to dismiss the case two years ago. The court said corporations can be sued under a federal law that allows U.S. jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed outside the country. The ruling reopens a case brought by 15 Indonesian villagers who said Indonesian soldiers raped and killed people at a natural gas site in Aceh province operated by Exxon. The villagers claim that Exxon retained the soldiers as security guards for the natural gas facility even though company officials knew the Indonesian army had committed human rights abuses in the past.