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Prof. Dr. Nguyen
Trong Nhan.
US planes
spraying defoliants on Vietnam
in
1966.
A mangrove forest in Ca Mau (southern
Vietnam) destroyed by the dioxin
chemicals.
Siemese twins Viet and Duc, victims of the
Agent Orange/dioxin, before being separated at Tu Du Hospital
in 1986.
A mother and her child affected by the Agent
Orange/dioxin from Tay Ninh
Province.
| On January
30, 2004, three Vietnamese representing the Agent Orange/dioxin
victims and the Association of Agent Orange/dioxin Victims of
Vietnam filed a lawsuit to the US federal court in Brooklyn, New
York state, demanding US chemicals companies to compensate for the
harm to their health caused by the chemical toxics produced by those
companies and used by US forces during the Vietnam War.
VNP interviews Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trong Nhan, Vice President of the
Association, on the case.
- Professor, is this the first civil case by Agent
Orange/dioxin victims in Vietnam against US chemicals
companies?
Yes. This is a
civil case coming in line with international and US laws, and not an
obstacle to the bilateral relations. The case is based on the US
federal laws on the compensation to foreigners for international
violations and on the laws on legal obligation for the products.
Besides the three who filed the suit, there will be hundreds of
other Agent Orange/dioxin victims who will do the same in a near
future.
- What is the purpose of the case?
In the 1961-1971
period, US forces sprayed about 80 million litres of Agent
Orange/dioxin produced by US chemicals companies in the south of
Vietnam, and this caused serious consequences to human health. It is
estimated that over 4 million Vietnamese suffer from diseases, many
of them serious, as a result of the infection from the toxics. At
the end of the Vietnam War, Vietnam demanded the U.S. to compensate
the victims through humanitarian ways, but Washington has been
trying to dodge it. All the American soldiers affected by the toxics
used during the war have got compensation, but the Vietnamese have
not, and this is unfair. That is why, after a long period of waiting
in vain, Vietnamese victims decided to raise the case to demand
compensation to themselves and their descendants. They launch the
case not only for their own life, but also for the generations that
have been and will be suffering from the lingering consequences. The
case is for the sacred right to life, the first right of the human
being, because they believe that conscience is still existing and
justice is respected at US courts. Public opinion, including that
from foreign countries, supports this just act for the rights of
every victim of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam as well as in other
countries, including the United States.
- Will the plaintiff meet with any
difficulty?
Yes, many. But in
my opinion, the main difficulty comes from the fact that they file
the suit against the very rich US chemicals companies in the U.S.
territory at a US court under US laws with the participation of US
lawyers. The World Democratic Lawyers' Association has recommended a
number of lawyers to us to protect the rights of the plaintiff.
Some years ago, this
organization held a meeting against the use of the chemical toxics
used by the U.S. during the Vietnam War and against Washington's
failure to solve the problem completely. The lawyers defending the
rights of the Vietnamese victims are all progressive, they will
cover all the costs and we will pay back to them only after winning
the case.
- In your opinion, will they win the
case?
This is a hard and
time-taking job that requires patience. But we believe that
conscience and justice will win. Those who cause the consequences
will have to bear the responsibility. On the other hand, there are
international laws banning the use of weapons of mass destruction,
that is why US chemicals companies must bear their responsibility in
this case.
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Of
late, Nguyen Thi Tam, a teacher of Hoa Hong Kindergarten,
Chief of the Liaison Board for former female youth-volunteers
of Thai Binh Province, has successfully collected 1,376
complaints from the victims of the Agent Orange/dioxin, to
form a set of files to lodge against the US chemicals
corporations, compelling them to pay damages that they wrought
in the US War in Vietnam. According to Tam, this number of
complaints is not final yet, because in all of Thai Binh
Province, there are more than 10,000 former youth
volunteers.
Prof.
Kenneth J. Hermann, an American Vietnam Vet and Director of
the "Sunny Brockport Vietnam" Program (consultant to Class
Action Lawsuits) has called upon the Agent Orange/dioxin
victims in Vietnam to send complaints to him so that he may
mobilize public opinion to support them in the lawsuit against
the US chemicals corporations. Answering an interview by mass
media, he said that he watched a TV Program in Da Nang, in
which quite a few Agent Orange/dioxin victims told of their
awful sufferings and he was deeply touched. A sense of loss
and fury overwhelmed him then. Thousands of such victims are
living in Da Nang and millions more across
Vietnam. |
Story: Vuong Mo
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