Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The creator of an online petition supporting Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange called on the U.S. government to take responsibility towards the sufferers on Oct. 1.

“I implore you to accept the United States' responsibility for the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, in a spirit of decency and justice that is worthy of your office," said Len Aldis, secretary of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society in a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush.

The letter was also addressed to U.S. senator John Kerry and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Aldis, in the letter, said that U.S. researchers confirmed that Agent Orange comprised the greater portion of the 82 million liters of toxic chemicals sprayed on southern Vietnam by U.S. troops during the period from 1961 to 1972.

Agent Orange is an herbicide that contains dioxin, one of the most toxic substances known to man, the letter said.

In 1984, U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War filed a class action suit in New York against companies that had manufactured the herbicide, said the letter. The veterans claimed that exposure to the chemicals had led to a variety of serious illnesses, and presented scientific evidence to support their claims.

The chemical companies, named as defendants, evidently regarded the veterans' case as strong, since they agreed to a settlement of 180 million USD in compensation. Recently, a new suit has been filed by American war veterans seeking additional redress.

In July of 1996, President William J. Clinton, announced that additional illnesses had been determined by the National Academy of Sciences linked to the use of Agent Orange, and that compensation would henceforth be paid to affected veterans and their children, said the letter. The list now includes twelve categories of disease, including at least one that involves a genetic defect which is transferred from war veterans to their children.

In January this year, another class action suit was filed in a New York court against the manufacturers of Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War, stressed Mr. Aldis. The plaintiffs in this case are Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange who suffer from serious illnesses that are identical or very similar to those for which U.S. veterans are being compensated.

Three generations of Vietnamese have already been affected, and the effects will continue long into the future, he said. To a large extent, this is due to the fact that, unlike U.S. veterans of the war, the people of Vietnam continue to dwell in a country heavily contaminated by the toxic residues that cause ecocide, he added.

An estimated three million Vietnamese have been affected but, to date, not a single one of them has received a single cent in compensation, Mr. Aldis noted.

Currently, 610,000 supporters from all over the world have signed the petition which Mr. Aldis set up at http://www.petitiononline.com/AOVN/.

Source: Vietnam News Agency
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 04 October, 2004, 00:32:36 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News