[wordup] US tries to halt rights suit against Exxon

[Adam Shand]

Via: Richard Schwartfeger <istari at spack.org>
From: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1028185529548&p=1012571727102

US tries to halt rights suit against Exxon
By Edward Alden in WashingtonPublished: August 5 2002 22:02
Last Updated: August 5 2002 22:02

The US is trying to quash a human rights lawsuit launched by Indonesian
villagers against Exxon Mobil, claiming it could undermine the war on
terrorism.

The State Department warned that the action alleging complicity in human
rights abuses by the oil group could have a "potentially serious adverse
impact" on US interests and the struggle against terrorism.

The lawsuit was filed last year by the International Labour Rights Fund
on behalf of 11 villagers in the Indonesian province of Aceh. They claim
Exxon Mobil, which operates a natural gas field in the province, paid
and directed Indonesian security forces that carried out murder, torture
and rape in the course of protecting the company's operations in the
1990s.

Exxon Mobil has denied the allegations.

The US government's intervention will raise new questions about its
commitment to human rights in Indonesia at a time when Congress is
considering lifting restrictions on US training of Indonesian forces.
Colin Powell, US secretary of state, said in Jakarta last week that he
wants to see the two countries resume military ties that were suspended
in 1999 after Indonesian security forces were implicated in a wave of
violence in East Timor. Phil Reeker, State Department spokesman, said
the US remained "very engaged with the human rights dialogue in
Indonesia".

The State Department's intervention could kill the case, which was filed
under a law that lets foreign citizens use US courts to hold American
companies accountable for violations of international law. A similar
case filed against Rio Tinto, the mining company, was dismissed this
year when Washington warned it might harm US interests in Papua New
Guinea.

In a letter to the US district court in Washington, the State
Department's top legal adviser said a decision against Exxon "would . .
. risk a potentially serious adverse impact on significant interests of
the United States, including interests directly related to the on-going
struggle against international terrorism".

The letter, released by plaintiffs on Monday, warns that Indonesia is so
concerned about the secessionist movement in Aceh - where support for
radical Islam is strong - that interference by a US court could impair
the entire relationship with the US.

Washington says, the lawsuit could discourage foreign investment in
Indonesia, particularly in the energy and mining industries. That would
in turn hurt government revenues and further weaken a key US ally. Exxon
Mobil lawyers had argued for the State Department to intervene on
foreign policy grounds.

Mila Rosenthal of the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights said that
Washington's action in the case suggested "that the war on terrorism is
now going to be used as a cover for all kinds of corporate malfeasance".

She noted that the intervention came just 18 months after the State
Department persuaded many US and UK oil and mining companies to agree to
stem abuses by security forces protecting their overseas operations.
Exxon-Mobil did not to sign up to the voluntary principles.