Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Legal experts and civil society groups welcomed a US Federal court ruling Thursday to proceed with a trial against US energy giant ExxonMobil, which stands accused of supporting the Indonesian military's alleged killings and torture in Aceh.
According to the groups, the decision was a milestone in the country's efforts to protect human rights, serving to expose the number of multinationals regularly paying the Indonesian Military for protection.
Supporters said the decision had created an opportunity for victims in Papua and Kalimantan to seek justice for violence inflicted by the military on behalf of foreign companies.
"It's a very significant ruling. At the very least, multinational mining companies now know they can't evade responsibility when the military personnel they hire commit murder and torture," Rafendi Jamin of the Human Rights Working Group told The Jakarta Post.
In Washington, US Judge Louis Oberdorfer ruled Wednesday the 11 Acehnese plaintiffs had provided "sufficient evidence, at this stage, for their allegations of serious abuse".
Oberdorfer denied a request from Exxon Mobil Corp. and its Indonesian subsidiary, ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia (EMOI), to throw out the lawsuit, but did dismiss the suit against the group's two US affiliates, Mobil Corp. and ExxonMobil Oil Corp.
The suit accuses Exxon Mobil Corporation and its affiliates of "killings and torture committed by military security forces protecting and paid for by EMOI", according to a court document as quoted by AFP.
The lawsuit was filed by the 11 villagers in June 2001 under the Alien Torts Claim Act (ATCA), which enables US courts to try any US company accused of perpetrating human rights abuses outside the country.
EMOI spokeswoman Deva Rachman dismissed all allegations against the company, saying the case was baseless as EMOI condemned all human rights abuses.
"We're just an operator of state facilities. The state, in this case the Indonesian government, has the authority to guard its own strategic assets. All along, we have always communicated everything we do with the government," she told the Post.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso said he was unaware of the suit. "They should just go ahead if they want to sue. It's Exxon that will be sued," he said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the government would follow the trial closely, while Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal declined to comment, saying the case did not involve the Indonesian government.
Legal expert Frans H. Winarta worried the trial risked exposing the current security situation in Indonesia, as it would reveal how foreign companies are sometimes forced to pay the military for protection.