Paris Rally Supports Vietnamese Agent Orange Victims
The French Vietnam Dioxin Association (Collectif Vietnam Dioxine) has organized a public rally at Trocadero Square in Paris to garner support for Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO) victims.
The three-hour rally on Sunday was held to mark the International Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare.
During the meeting, photos of Vietnamese AO victims were distributed to visitors to help them understand the heavy consequences of the US-waged war that many Vietnamese people are still suffering from three decades after it ended.
Joining the meeting, Mark Cramer, a member of the Americans Against the War, said that the consequences of war, including impacts of Agent Orange/Dioxin, are terrible and unacceptable. He demanded that Vietnamese AO/Dioxin victims receive assistance and compensation.
A French marcher recalled his visits to Vietnam where he saw with own eyes the miserable lives of children affected by the toxic chemical.
“It is really a crime and we should do something to help the victims,” he said.
Hundreds of French people and visitors at the meeting signed a list in support of Vietnamese AO/Dioxin victims’ lawsuit against US chemical companies.
In recent times, Collectif Vietnam Dioxine has organised many activities to bring pressure to bear upon the US Government and has called for support from the French Government and other countries.
Vo Dinh Kim, a coordinator of Collectif Vietnam Dioxine, said his organization is gathering signatures for an appeal, which will be sent to the US Embassy in Paris on June 18, 2007 – the date set for the hearing at the US Court of Appeals relating to the Vietnamese victims’ lawsuit against US chemical firms.
In addition, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers in France has collected more than 600 signatures in support of Vietnamese victims.
Later in the day, Collectif Vietnam Dioxine and the Vietnamese People Association in France screened the film “The Last Ghost of War”. The film depicts the lives of AO child victims in Vietnam and their struggle for compensation from US chemical firms.
VOV
