Kiobel and other environmental activists were arrested, tortured, and executed by the Nigerian military in 1995. They had been protesting Shell's oil exploration in the Ogoni region of Nigeria. A lawsuit was brought by Kobel's widow and others under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) in the United States against three Royal Dutch Shell companies alleging that the companies had aided and abetted the Nigerian military in committing human rights abuses in violation of customary international law. The defendant corporations are incorporated or headquartered in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria. None of the plaintiffs or defendants are citizens of, or incorporated in, the United States. May an individual may bring an action under the ATS against a corporation for violations of customary international law? If not, do you think that international law should permit damage suits against individuals but leave corporations free to violate the law without consequences? Should a corporation be able to shield its profits from human rights abuses by simply doing business as a corporate entity? Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.,