The eleven plaintiffs contended in their lawsuit that family members were "beaten, burned, shocked with cattle prods, kicked, and subjected to other forms of brutality and cruelty" amounting to torture in Indonesia's Aceh province between 1999 and 2001, during a period of civil unrest. Exxon Mobil retained soldiers from Indonesia's military as guards for a natural gas facility at the Arun gas field in Aceh, despite knowing of past human rights abuses by the Indonesian army, leading to human rights violations against Aceh villagers.Jonathan Stempel, Indonesia torture case vs Exxon Mobil revived, Reuters, (July 8, 2011). Plaintiffs sued in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
