UNOCAL CASE Decision by the California Central District Court

Facts: In 1979, fourteen Burmese villagers filed a complaint against the oil company UNOCAL. They
claimed that they suffered abuses including torture and rape during the construction of the Yadana
Pipeline. UNOCAL allegedly assisted in the abuses perpetrated by the military government in Rangoon.

The Burmese villagers based their claim on the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), which allows US courts to
decide cases in respect of foreign nationals for crimes that occurred outside of the US.

Issue: WON the

Ruling of the District Court: Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a district court has jurisdiction
over a civil action against a foreign state such as Myanmar — only if one of several exceptions to foreign
sovereign immunity applies. The District Court concluded, that “because plain- tiffs essentially allege
that [the Myanmar Military] and [Myanmar Oil] abused their police power” when they engaged in these
additional acts upon which the claims are based, these acts were exercises of powers peculiar to sover-
eigns and, therefore, “do not come within the commercial activity exception to the FSIA.”