Viet Nam Human Rights
Agent Orange lawsuits: Justice for the humanity (Part II and End)
8/3/16
Lawsuits
against the US Agent Orange usage
In 2004, the Vietnam Association of
Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) began sending their legal proceedings to
sue 37 US chemical
companies, including Dow Chemical, Monsanto Ltd, Phamacia Corporation, and
Hercules Incorporated at the US Supreme Court but was rejected by different courts. They said that there was a lack
of direct evidence linking the symptoms of sufferers with the dioxin.
The rejection is unfair and violates human rights.
American veterans enjoy Agent Orange allowances, totalling billions of US
dollar a year (around $13.5 billion in 2010) but Vietnamese Agent Orange
victims are neglected. Not only Agent Orange victims in Vietnam but also
victims in Japan and veterans in South Korea are ignored.
"We are determined to seek for justice. We are
researching US laws and asking for assistance from excellent lawyers in the
world, including American lawyers, for the new lawsuit. The new lawsuit is
about to be lodged.
These days, public opinion at
home and abroad has shown a keen interest in the lawsuit against the US
chemical companies over their supply of chemical toxins used during the war in
Vietnam at the court of Evry City of France.
A 73 years old French woman of Vietnamese
origin, Tran To Nga, has stood as the sole plaintiff in the Agent Orange/Dioxin
lawsuit against 35 chemical companies based in the U.S. for producing the toxic
substances sprayed in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. Her first child was
affected by Agent Orange/Dioxin and died at 17 months. Nga’s two other
daughters, one of whom is living in the US and the other in Australia, are the
second generation victims. Nga’s children are only three of millions of
Agent/Dioxin victims in Vietnam.
She
and the Paris-based William Bourdon & Forestier law firm filed a lawsuit
against 26 US chemical firms for producing chemical toxins sprayed by the US
army during the war in Viet Nam. Nga and the legal team hold that the toxins,
and therefore the companies that made them, are responsible for the serious
health issues that plague Vietnamese communities, her and her children.
The
complaint and related documents were handed over to the Crown Court of Evry
city and to the 26 named US companies, 19 of which have appointed their lawyers
and took part in the litigation while the remaining 7 have done nothing.
Definitely,
Ms. Nga’s lawsuit might last years. However, we must always place our faith in
justice. Ms. Tran To Nga and her lawyers have been receiving strong support
from public opinion and millions of other Agent Orange victims are standing
side by side with Ms. Nga. They will continue the legal fight for their own
benefits and their own lives and for the sake of mankind.
In
fact, the US Government and chemical firms as well as governments of the
Republic of Korea and Australia more or less acknowledged the case and conceded
their guilt and compensated their citizens who had been exposed to Agent
Orange/dioxin in the war. By contrast, nothing has been done for Vietnamese
people and veterans who were directly exposed to such horrible toxic chemicals,
seen as weapons of mass destruction, used by the US Army. Public opinion could
never accept such injustice. The first fundamental right of a human being is
the right to live.
But all the Agent Orange/dioxin victims were deprived
of the right to live and have to suffer from endless physical and mental pain
for the rest of their lives. Only within a decade, Agent Orange/dioxin caused
severe genetic changes resulting in horrible birth defects and worse still the
effects of toxic chemicals might affect endless generations to come.
All victims
of Agent Orange, whatever their nationality or circumstances of exposure,
should unite more closely and earnestly to act for our common interests.
Further, to demonstrate our solidarity with victims of other weapons of mass
destruction such as the atomic bomb and depleted uranium, all the victims and
their supporters should work together in unity and coordinate actions. Only
together, can we be effective, powerful and successful in achieving justice!
The use of Agent Orange in
Vietnam is undoubtedly one of the most shameful foreign policy disasters in
American history and one for which justice is unlikely to be achieved. Agent
Orange, though unique in the continuous harm that it causes, was only one
aspect of a larger catastrophe. The US
government and chemical manufacturers of Agent Orange, particularly Monsanto
and Dow Chemical, should accept their responsibility and engage in greater and
fuller efforts to work with the Vietnamese people and government to clean up
the existing "hot spots" and to provide comprehensive and meaningful
assistance to the victims of Agent Orange and their families in Vietnam in a
more practical and effective manner. Because little of the monies appropriated
by the US Congress has actually reached the victims, funds intended for the
victims should be given to Vietnamese NGOs like the Vietnam Association for
Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA) so that they actually go to those who
need assistance most. The need for hospitals, clinics and respite homes for the
victims and their parents, is overwhelming – many of the victims require
24-hour care and their elderly parents who are doing the caring also need help.
We ask all of humanity, all governments, organizations
and individuals, whatever their social or political position, to take immediate
action to support all victims of Agent Orange, with particular emphasis on
those in Vietnam. In every country, and in every region, we should set up
organizations and develop specific programs for mobilizing material resources
in whatever form and for making our voices heard in all available forums in
support of the struggle of the Vietnamese Agent Orange victims for justice./.
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All comments [ 10 ]
Agent Orange continues to poison Vietnam and the people exposed to the chemicals, as well as their offspring.
These chemicals contained the impurity of dioxin – the most toxic chemical known to science. Millions of people were exposed to Agent Orange and today it is estimated that three million Vietnamese still suffer the effects of these chemical defoliants.
The use of Agent Orange on civilian populations violates the laws of war; yet no one has been held to account.
US funding promised to help clean up an airport contaminated by the wartime herbicide Agent Orange has not been disbursed fast enough
For 10 years, U.S. forces sprayed Agent Orange and other herbicides on 10 percent of the land surface of South Vietnam, in an effort to destroy crops and deny Vietnam soldiers cover under the country's dense foliage.
up to four million of its citizens have suffered serious health consequences because of the poisonous spraying by U.S forces during the war.
There are as many as two-dozen hot spots that need cleaning up
The dioxin present in Agent Orange is one of the most toxic chemicals known to humanity.
The use of Agent Orange in Vietnam constituted prohibited chemical warfare, amounting to a war crime. Yet the U.S. is still using chemical weapons, including white phosphorus gas, in its wars abroad.
HR 2114 should be enacted into law. The refusal of the U.S. government to compensate the Vietnamese and U.S. victims of its chemical warfare would set a negative precedent for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who need similar help.
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