On Monday, Exxon Mobil Corp settled a long-running human rights lawsuit with Indonesian villagers who claimed soldiers Exxon hired to guard a natural gas facility in and around the Aceh territory committed murder and torture.

The villagers had sued the oil giant in US court over 20 years ago, and the trial was set to begin on May 24. The villagers allege the contract soldiers committed such abuses and crimes as assault, torture, and murder as part of their duties in guarding the company’s operations in that region.

The plaintiffs sought to hold Exxon accountable for the alleged abuses that took place during a period of civil unrest in Indonesia. They alleged the oil giant had authority over the soldiers and provided them with the material and logistical support that aided the alleged abuses.

Claims contested

The company contested the US court’s ability to hear the case at all, plus it argued that there were no allegations in the lawsuit that any employee directly harmed the villagers.

US District Court Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, DC, rejected Exxon’s claim that it deserved a ruling in its favor ahead of trial.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the WSJ said the lead counsel for the 11 villagers who served as plaintiffs, Agnieszka Fryszman, said her clients were pleased with being able to secure a measure of justice for themselves and their families.

“ExxonMobil condemns human rights violations in any form, those include the actions asserted in this case against the Indonesian military,” an Exxon spokesperson told the WSJ.

In public documents associated with the case, eyewitnesses and plaintiffs claimed security personnel fatally shot several people, plus abused, bullied and sexually assaulted villagers.

Abrupt resignation

This lawsuit led to the abrupt 2021 resignation of Alex Oh as the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement director, after Judge Lamberth raised concerns about Oh’s conduct while representing Exxon at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

Judge Lamberth admonished Oh and the law firm for calling opposing counsel in the Exxon case “unhinged” and “agitated and combative” without evidence during a February 2021 deposition.

The judge noted that Oh sincerely apologized for her conduct, as did Paul Weiss.