In a ruling that may shape how US courts are used for international corporate accountability, a judge in Washington this month allowed a group of Indonesian villagers to persist in their claims of human rights abuses against the Texas oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. The 15-year-old claims may proceed, the judge found, because the villagers from Aceh province have newly alleged that top figures at the oil company — historically one of the most profitable companies in the world — knowingly hired and supported local military forces who tortured, killed and sexually assaulted the villagers, who have all withheld their names out of fear for their safety. The company strongly denied the allegations.