Vietnam delegation in 15th Conference of Int'l Lawyers


Oct. 21 (VNA)-- The International Association of Democratic Lawyers held its 15th conference in Havana, Cuba, in the presence of nearly 1,000 representatives of 50 countries. The five-day conference ended on Oct.20 with the release of resolutions on various issues, including the demand that US authorities compensate Viet Nam.

Viet Nam was represented at the conference by a delegation headed by Luu Van Dat, Vice President and General Secretary of the Viet Nam Lawyers' Association.

The Vietnamese delegate gave the participants a detailed assessment of the effects of Agent Orange sprayed by the US in Viet Nam during the war. He urged the US Government to help Viet Nam overcome the after effects of Agent Orange and to compensate those Vietnamese people affected by the poisonous chemical, just as it did for US veterans who suffered after exposure to the spray.

Vietnamese lawyers also raised their voices against the abuse of embargo as a political weapon to lay pressure on some sovereign countries. They reaffirmed that human rights were fundamental to the language of international law and that no force in the world could use human rights as a pretext to violate human rights.