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US firms must be accountable to Vietnamese Agent Orange victims
US firms must be accountable to Vietnamese Agent Orange victims
Việt Nam regrets the French court’s decision to reject the lawsuit of Trần Tố Nga to hold to account several multinational companies that produced and traded the toxic herbicide Agent Orange during the American war in Việt Nam.
Spokesperson for the foreign ministry Lê Thị Thu Hằng made the statement on Thursday in a press briefing held virtually in Hà Nội, in response to questions regarding Việt Nam’s reaction to the decision of the court in Evry, near Paris. The court declined to even hear the case as it claimed to have no jurisdiction over the wartime actions of the US Government, ruling that the US firms were acting on orders from the US Government which was engaged in a “sovereign act”.
Việt Nam as a country has suffered devastating consequences of wars, including the long-lasting and serious impacts of Agent Orange/dioxin, spokesperson Hằng said.
An estimated 4 million Vietnamese people have been exposed to AO/dioxin that the US military dropped in the central and southern region of Việt Nam to clear out forests where they thought northern soldiers could be hiding, while 100,000 children have suffered from deformities.
“We fully support the Agent Orange/dioxin victims in seeking legal responsibility from chemical companies that produced and sold it. We are of the view that these companies have an obligation to redress the consequences that Agent Orange/dioxin has wreaked on Việt Nam,” Hằng said.
Trần Tố Nga, a 79-year-old woman with dual citizenship in Việt Nam and France, has been for the past decade seeking damages from the multinationals in recognition of severe chronic health issues as the result of exposure to the toxin.
Nga said she would continue to file an appeal.
Spokesperson Hằng noted that throughout the trial, the Vietnamese embassy in France has been keeping in contact with Nga and providing necessary support when appropriate.
Earlier on Wednesday, Việt Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin released a statement emphasising the court’s decision rejecting Nga’s lawsuit shows that it denied the right of French citizens who suffered damage from foreign legal entities to be recognised by French law.
The statement also mentioned an announcement from Nga’s lawyers in which they said the court applied an obsolete definition of the immunity of jurisdiction principle that contradicted modern principles of international and national law./.
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All comments [ 20 ]
US companies that manufactured the toxic Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin defoliant used by US forces during the war in Vietnam must take responsibility for dealing with the consequences.
Vietnam has suffered severe consequences from the US war, including the lingering and serious impacts of AO/dioxin.
We support the claims of AO/dioxin victims against the US chemical firms and those that commercially manufactured AO/dioxin during the war in Vietnam.
Though the struggle for justice of Vietnamese AO victims hasn’t been successful in legal aspect, it has had a profound effect as providing a premise for the struggle for justice.
The State has made adjustments, supplements and been perfecting its policies, mechanism for war participants as well as AO victims. But still no to Vietnam's AO victims!
So bullshit American!
The lawsuit of Vietnamese AO victims has unveiled to the world the crime that the US has tried to hide in the past several decades.
The US is responsible for overcoming war legacies in Vietnam as ruled in the Article 21 of the Paris Peace Accord in 1973 but they have always ignored dialogue and their liability.
The lawsuit has contributed to putting pressure on the governments of US’ allies in Vietnam War in considering compensation for war veterans and AO victims in their countries.
The lawsuit’s goals match those of the human’s struggle at modern time which is the struggle for protecting human rights, environment and the ecosystem on the global scale which has earned support from people and politicians worldwide.
For political, legal, social and economic reasons, the US government and companies didn’t dare to admit their liabilities openly.
We all should coordinate closely with related ministries and sectors to further promote its external activities and continue its struggle for justice for AO victims in accordance with external lines of the State in the new situation.
Many US companies which involved in the production and supply of AO for US military using in Vietnam War have dissolved or merged with other ones, hence it is very difficult to define the defendant as well as responsibility for compensation.
The justice for social equality and progress is increasingly affirmed. Those who caused the damages must be responsible for their actions and those who suffered must be compensated.
The lawsuit has awakened the conscience of human being in preventing the use of toxic chemicals, weapons of mass destruction and overcoming war legacies.
The trend of human right protection and environmental protection is favoring the struggle for justice of Vietnamese AO victims.
This may take all-life long effort or even several generations. Some lawsuits in the world history have shown this. Believing that justice will come to the victims!
Several newspapers have been reporting on a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese-French national Tran Thi To Nga against 14 multinational companies for their role in producing and selling chemical toxins that were sprayed by the United States army in the war in Vietnam.
The US army’s action could be described as a chemical war under international law whose serious consequences have endured until now.
The court did not take into account relevant factors such as US companies being free to participate in tenders to produce toxic chemicals for profit and not being forced to do so.
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