1- Năm 1984, Mỹ đồng ý bồi thường 240 triệu Mỹ kim cho các cựu chiến binh, nhân viên bị ảnh hưởng chất độc Da Cam trong chiến tranh Việt Nam (http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/03/us/vietnam-veterans-expecting-agent-orange-benefits-soon.html?pagewanted=print). Vụ khởi tố từ năm 1978 đến năm 1984- phán quyết và năm 1987 mới hoàn tất chi trả nên con số chính thức là 180 triệu cộng tiền lời trong 7 năm thành 240 triệu. Theo báo New York Time tường trình.
* Số tiền này bao gồm cho các cựu chiến binh Mỹ, Úc, Tân Tây Lan, và Gia Nã Đại (US, Australia, New Zealand Canada), nhưng lại kỳ thị không bồi thường lính Nam Hàn dù 320 ngàn ngưòi Nam Hàn tham chiến và cũng bị ảnh hưởng.
* Cựu Quân nhân Nam Hàn khởi tố - Đồng thời chính phủ Nam Hàn cũng thay mặt bồi thường và nhận trách nhiệm chi trả bệnh phí và an sinh cho lính Nam Hàn khoảng 20 Triệu Mỹ Kim. (1- http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Issue/Pn32/pn32p17d.htm)
* Trong khi đó bên Úc, và Tân Tây Lan Chính phủ chính thức thừa nhận sự kiện và CHÍNH THỨC XIN LỖI các cựu chiến binh. Nhà nước đồng ý bồi thường cộng với những chính sách tài trợ cựu chiến binh nạn nhân bị nhiễm chất Da Cam.
* Một cựu quân nhân Tân Tây Lan, đi lính Úc đã được bồi thường năm 2004 $60 ngàn Úc Kim, và tháng 12 năm 2006, nhà nước Tân Tây Lan đã đồng ý bồi thường 30 triệu mỹ kim cho các nạn nhân Tân tây Lan bị nhiễm Da Cam. Nhưng kèm những điều kiện thể lê vô lý khiến cựu chiến binh Tân tây Lan giận dữ và tiếp tục kiện Nhà Nước. ( http://new-zealand-affairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_zealand_government_and_agent_orange )
* Ngược lại bên Mỹ sau vụ bồi thường, Bộ Cựu Chiến Binh Mỹ cố tình trì hoãn không thực thi những phán quyết bồi thường lo lắng cho nạn nhân, khiến các cựu chiến binh khiếu nại và kiện tiếp. Kết quả là tòa án đã phán quyết bắt Bộ Cựu Chiến Binh Mỹ phải thi hành và TĂNG TIỀN BỒI THƯỜNG vì phán quyết có cả giá trị kết khứ, nghĩa là ứng dụng cho cả những sự thiệt hại xảy ra ngược về trước trong quá khứ. (http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/news/va-pay-retroactive-benefi.html) Vấn đề là số tiền bồi thường chi phí được dấu kín không rõ là bao nhiêu.
* Cũng vào năm 2006, tại Seoul Nam Hàn, một cựu chiến binh Hàn, Jang Dong-cheol,cùng cu chiến binh NAM HÀN đã đệ đơn kiện ngay tại tòa án NAM HÀN công ty Mỹ bào chế Dioxin DOW của Mỹ.. Tòa Án Nam Hàn đã phán quyết ra lệnh hai (2) Công Ty DOW và Mosanto của Mỹ bồi thường 62 triệu Mỹ Kim cho các nạn nhân ngưòi Nam Hàn http://www.ffrd.org/AO/KoreanVet.htm (Agent Orange-Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto Co.-to jointly pay $62 million in medical compensation to Korean victims.)
Một trường hợp khác ở bang Arizona của Mỹ cũng là công ty Dow Chemical Company cùng với Nha Kiểm Lâm Mỹ (United States Forest Service) đồng thuận bồi thuờng ngoài Tòa Án năm (5) gia đình nhân viên kiểm lâm, bị nhiễm chất Da Cam sau 12 năm đi xịt thuốc giết cây cỏ cho nha Kiểm Lâm.. Số tiền bồi thường không được công bố cho công chúng
CHÚNG TA ĐỂ Ý bọn nhà nưóc và tư bản, khi biết thua CHÚNG xin điều đình và dàn xếp ngoài tòa án.. Mục đích là để KHÔNG THÀNH ÁN LỆ.. và KHÔNG CÓ ÁN LỆ cho những nạn nhân khác dùng trong tòa án để tranh kiện.
Tuy nhiên, khốn nạn nhất vẫn là bọn NHÀ NƯÓC PHỈ CỘNG VIỆT NAM và đám Ngụy ngục, ngưòi ta bênh nhau, còn nạn nhân Việt Nam thì bị bọn nhà nước lợi dụng, đã không lo cho nạn nhân còn ăn trên đầu những viện trợ giúp đỡ.. Bọn Ngụy ngục chống cộng, thì đi ngược với LƯƠNG TÂM, phá đám nỗ lực kiện Da Cam.. Và đi ngược với BẰNG CHỨNG KHOA HỌC tuyên bố DA CAM không có hại tại Viêt Nam!!!!
Duy Việt tổng hợp.
TÀI LIỆU THAM KHẢO:
Forgotten victims of Agent Orange
An estimated 7,000 South Korean veterans of the Vietnam War are suffering from various medical problems after being exposed to defoliants such Agent Orange (2,4,5-T), which were contaminated with dioxin. Decades later, veterans have developed conditions such as skin and lung cancers, nervous disorders and suffer regularly from headaches and forgetfulness. South Korea sent 312,000 troops to Vietnam, but they were not included in a class-action suit that resulted in a US$240 million settlement for Agent Orange victims from the US, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
In an attempt to make up for lost ground, the South Korean government will spend 15 billion won (US$20 million) in 1996 on living benefits and medical treatment for veterans—a 50% increase over 1995. It is also spending 200 million won (US$25,000) on a series of epidemiological studies that will examine the Vietnam veterans.
An estimated 7,000 South Korean veterans of the Vietnam War are suffering from various medical problems after being exposed to defoliants such Agent Orange (2,4,5-T), which were contaminated with dioxin. Decades later, veterans have developed conditions such as skin and lung cancers, nervous disorders and suffer regularly from headaches and forgetfulness. South Korea sent 312,000 troops to Vietnam, but they were not included in a class-action suit that resulted in a US$240 million settlement for Agent Orange victims from the US, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
In an attempt to make up for lost ground, the South Korean government will spend 15 billion won (US$20 million) in 1996 on living benefits and medical treatment for veterans—a 50% increase over 1995. It is also spending 200 million won (US$25,000) on a series of epidemiological studies that will examine the Vietnam veterans.
Far Eastern Economic Review, May 9, 1996. [This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 32, June 1996, page 17]
2- VA Ordered to Pay Retroactive Benefits to Agent Orange Victims
(http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/news/va-pay-retroactive-benefi.html)
July 25th, 2007
"Appeals Court Says VA Must Comply with 1991 Consent Decree"The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay retroactive benefits to Vietnam War veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. The VA had fought for 16 years against paying benefits retroactively to veterans who had claimed that their leukemia was caused by the toxic herbicide.
VA Refused to Pay Retroactive Benefits Although the VA agreed in 2003 to provide benefits to the vets diagnosed with CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) caused by Agent Orange, the VA didn't then review previous claims from vets with CLL, and it declined to pay them retroactive benefits.
Court Chastises the VA in Ruling Judge Stephen Reinhardt, writing the appeals court decision, chastised the VA over its longstanding opposition to paying the benefits, stating, "We would hope that this litigation will now end, that our government will now respect the legal obligations it undertook in the consent decree some 16 years ago, that obstructionist bureaucratic opposition will now cease, and that our veterans will finally receive the benefits to which they are morally and legally entitled." The opinion went on to say "The performance of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has contributed substantially to our sense of national shame."
It is not yet known how many veterans will be affected by the court's decision, or how much the VA would be paying out in benefits, or whether the VA will appeal the latest decision.
Other Agent Orange-Based Disabilities Possible: An attorney with the National Veterans Legal Services Program, Richard Spataro, noted that the appeals court ruling might finally halt the years of legal battles with the VA — if the VA doesn't appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Spataro also pointed out that if other disabilities or illnesses among vets are found to have been caused by Agent Orange, the recent decision will bar the VA from denying retroactive benefits for those vets, too. (Source: findlaw.com)
Have adverse effects of Agent Orange or another toxic chemical harmed you or a loved one? Contact a lawyer with the skills and experience necessary to provide the legal representation you need.
2- VA Ordered to Pay Retroactive Benefits to Agent Orange Victims
(http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/news/va-pay-retroactive-benefi.html)
July 25th, 2007
"Appeals Court Says VA Must Comply with 1991 Consent Decree"The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay retroactive benefits to Vietnam War veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. The VA had fought for 16 years against paying benefits retroactively to veterans who had claimed that their leukemia was caused by the toxic herbicide.
VA Refused to Pay Retroactive Benefits Although the VA agreed in 2003 to provide benefits to the vets diagnosed with CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) caused by Agent Orange, the VA didn't then review previous claims from vets with CLL, and it declined to pay them retroactive benefits.
Court Chastises the VA in Ruling Judge Stephen Reinhardt, writing the appeals court decision, chastised the VA over its longstanding opposition to paying the benefits, stating, "We would hope that this litigation will now end, that our government will now respect the legal obligations it undertook in the consent decree some 16 years ago, that obstructionist bureaucratic opposition will now cease, and that our veterans will finally receive the benefits to which they are morally and legally entitled." The opinion went on to say "The performance of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has contributed substantially to our sense of national shame."
It is not yet known how many veterans will be affected by the court's decision, or how much the VA would be paying out in benefits, or whether the VA will appeal the latest decision.
Other Agent Orange-Based Disabilities Possible: An attorney with the National Veterans Legal Services Program, Richard Spataro, noted that the appeals court ruling might finally halt the years of legal battles with the VA — if the VA doesn't appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Spataro also pointed out that if other disabilities or illnesses among vets are found to have been caused by Agent Orange, the recent decision will bar the VA from denying retroactive benefits for those vets, too. (Source: findlaw.com)
Have adverse effects of Agent Orange or another toxic chemical harmed you or a loved one? Contact a lawyer with the skills and experience necessary to provide the legal representation you need.
3- New Zealand Government and Agent Orange
(http://new-zealand-affairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_zealand_government_and_agent_orange)
Author: Sarah Curtis
Published: May 20, 2009
He poured "thousands and thousands" of litres of Agent Orange into spray planes while on duty in Vietnam....Twenty years later Andy Searle was a paraplegic because of it.
But at least Searle was compensated by the Australian Government of the day. Had he been a New Zealand soldier, his plight might have been even tougher.
For more than 30 years, the New Zealand Government refused to acknowledge its troops in Vietnam had been exposed to harmful defoliants. An apology and compensation did not come until 2006.
Mr Searle, who now lives here, spoke about the New Zealand situation on the eve of a 2004 Government announcement finally acknowledging Kiwi troops had been in defoliant drop zones.
Australian Government Compensation for Servicemen Exposed to Agent Orange
He was thankful the Australian government recognised the harmful effects of Agent Orange and other defoliants used in Vietnam. It had been quick to come up with compensation and ongoing benefits for its veterans, Mr Searle said.
He personally received about $A38,000 and the cost of his medical expenses — in total of about $A60,000, he said.
He considered New Zealand’s attitude “delinquent”.
“There's no other word to describe it," Mr Searle said.
New Zealand Manufactured Defoliants Used in War
He agreed with people who claimed some of the Agent Orange used in Vietnam was manufactured in New Zealand by New Plymouth company Ivon Watkins Dow.
"They've got people in the suburb where it was made with deformed kids but what do they do about it? — they commission another report. That's just delinquency, nothing else.
"I'd like to see the New Zealand government sued. For 35 years they've mucked around with this.
"The Government should officially apologise and then pay out $100,000 to every Vietnam veteran or to the families that have survived them," he said.
"As for the select committee's chairwoman Steve Chadwick saying that the information wasn't forthcoming until last year — that's rubbish. I, myself drew the findings of a report to the attention of the New Zealand government in 1994," Mr Searle said.
New Zealand Troops and Vietnamese Some of the Most Affected by Agent Orange Spray
He believed New Zealand troops would have been some of the worst affected by the spray.
“Most of the Kiwi contingents in Vietnam were foot soldiers and would have been regularly subjected to overhead spraying,” Mr Searle said.
The Vietnamese people were also likely to have been severely affected, he said.
"I have often wondered what happened to all those empty 44-gallon drums . . . . I imagine some of them could quite well have been taken by the locals and used to store rice or to wash their clothes in.
"I'm picking there will soon be a big action from there (Vietnam) too but I don't know which governments will be held responsible — whether it will be the New Zealand government for having manufactured the chemical or the US government who most likely commissioned it.
Repercussions of New Zealand Government Apology on Vietnamese War Survivors and New Plymouth Residents Living Near Ivon Watkins Dow
"If the New Zealand government apologises to its servicemen then it means it also has to admit a responsibility to those people who are suffering the effects of dioxin in New Plymouth. It may also have to contribute to compensation for the Vietnamese."
Mr Searle said it was 10–12 years after Vietnam that he began to feel unwell.
"It slows you down completely. It came on gradually and then killed the bone marrow and tissue, mainly in my legs. Other guys I worked with suffered the same side effects but their paralysis affected their spines and lungs.
No Occupational Health and Safety Warnings about Dioxin
"We were constantly spilling the stuff. Back in those days there were no occupational safety and health type warnings about what to do after a spillage.
"I think governments were well aware of the repercussions of dioxin even before Vietnam. A similar product had been used during WW2. That's why the Australian government was so willing to pay out compensation.
"But the people with all the stripes wouldn't have been worried about those without them. It just shows man's inhumanity to man," Mr Searle said.
Footnote: In December 2006, the New Zealand Government finally agreed to a $30 million package of services and benefits for veterans and their families as well as a formal apology and a welcome home parade for its Vietnam veterans. The compensation schedule, which included conditions for payments, was met with anger by some veterans who subsequently explored legal action against the Government
4- http://www.ffrd.org/AO/KoreanVet.htm
February 15, 2006 Wednesday
SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS
HEADLINE: (Yonhap Feature) S. Korean Vietnam War veterans still haunted by Agent Orange
DATELINE: SEOUL Feb. 15, 2006
The Vietnam War ended more than 30 years ago, but Jang Dong-cheol, a 63-year-old South Korean veteran, still lives in a nightmarish fear of the toxic US chemical Agent Orange that drenched the jungles of the Southeast Asian country. The wheelchair-bound former army sergeant said he was so busy fighting communist Vietcong every day that he never imagined the defoliant would ruin his life later.
""Actually, whenever US military planes and helicopters spread Agent Orange, all of my platoon members went out, with only underwear on, to get soaked for fun,"" Jang said with a remorseful, awkward smile. ""It was kind of cool to get drenched, I remember. Also, someone said they were spreading insecticides to keep Vietnamese mosquitoes away from us."" About 320,000 South Korean troops fought alongside US soldiers in the Vietnam War, of whom more than 5,000 were killed and nearly 11,000 others wounded.
Author: Sarah Curtis
Published: May 20, 2009
He poured "thousands and thousands" of litres of Agent Orange into spray planes while on duty in Vietnam....Twenty years later Andy Searle was a paraplegic because of it.
But at least Searle was compensated by the Australian Government of the day. Had he been a New Zealand soldier, his plight might have been even tougher.
For more than 30 years, the New Zealand Government refused to acknowledge its troops in Vietnam had been exposed to harmful defoliants. An apology and compensation did not come until 2006.
Mr Searle, who now lives here, spoke about the New Zealand situation on the eve of a 2004 Government announcement finally acknowledging Kiwi troops had been in defoliant drop zones.
Australian Government Compensation for Servicemen Exposed to Agent Orange
He was thankful the Australian government recognised the harmful effects of Agent Orange and other defoliants used in Vietnam. It had been quick to come up with compensation and ongoing benefits for its veterans, Mr Searle said.
He personally received about $A38,000 and the cost of his medical expenses — in total of about $A60,000, he said.
He considered New Zealand’s attitude “delinquent”.
“There's no other word to describe it," Mr Searle said.
New Zealand Manufactured Defoliants Used in War
He agreed with people who claimed some of the Agent Orange used in Vietnam was manufactured in New Zealand by New Plymouth company Ivon Watkins Dow.
"They've got people in the suburb where it was made with deformed kids but what do they do about it? — they commission another report. That's just delinquency, nothing else.
"I'd like to see the New Zealand government sued. For 35 years they've mucked around with this.
"The Government should officially apologise and then pay out $100,000 to every Vietnam veteran or to the families that have survived them," he said.
"As for the select committee's chairwoman Steve Chadwick saying that the information wasn't forthcoming until last year — that's rubbish. I, myself drew the findings of a report to the attention of the New Zealand government in 1994," Mr Searle said.
New Zealand Troops and Vietnamese Some of the Most Affected by Agent Orange Spray
He believed New Zealand troops would have been some of the worst affected by the spray.
“Most of the Kiwi contingents in Vietnam were foot soldiers and would have been regularly subjected to overhead spraying,” Mr Searle said.
The Vietnamese people were also likely to have been severely affected, he said.
"I have often wondered what happened to all those empty 44-gallon drums . . . . I imagine some of them could quite well have been taken by the locals and used to store rice or to wash their clothes in.
"I'm picking there will soon be a big action from there (Vietnam) too but I don't know which governments will be held responsible — whether it will be the New Zealand government for having manufactured the chemical or the US government who most likely commissioned it.
Repercussions of New Zealand Government Apology on Vietnamese War Survivors and New Plymouth Residents Living Near Ivon Watkins Dow
"If the New Zealand government apologises to its servicemen then it means it also has to admit a responsibility to those people who are suffering the effects of dioxin in New Plymouth. It may also have to contribute to compensation for the Vietnamese."
Mr Searle said it was 10–12 years after Vietnam that he began to feel unwell.
"It slows you down completely. It came on gradually and then killed the bone marrow and tissue, mainly in my legs. Other guys I worked with suffered the same side effects but their paralysis affected their spines and lungs.
No Occupational Health and Safety Warnings about Dioxin
"We were constantly spilling the stuff. Back in those days there were no occupational safety and health type warnings about what to do after a spillage.
"I think governments were well aware of the repercussions of dioxin even before Vietnam. A similar product had been used during WW2. That's why the Australian government was so willing to pay out compensation.
"But the people with all the stripes wouldn't have been worried about those without them. It just shows man's inhumanity to man," Mr Searle said.
Footnote: In December 2006, the New Zealand Government finally agreed to a $30 million package of services and benefits for veterans and their families as well as a formal apology and a welcome home parade for its Vietnam veterans. The compensation schedule, which included conditions for payments, was met with anger by some veterans who subsequently explored legal action against the Government
4- http://www.ffrd.org/AO/KoreanVet.htm
February 15, 2006 Wednesday
SECTION: NATIONWIDE INTERNATIONAL NEWS
HEADLINE: (Yonhap Feature) S. Korean Vietnam War veterans still haunted by Agent Orange
DATELINE: SEOUL Feb. 15, 2006
The Vietnam War ended more than 30 years ago, but Jang Dong-cheol, a 63-year-old South Korean veteran, still lives in a nightmarish fear of the toxic US chemical Agent Orange that drenched the jungles of the Southeast Asian country. The wheelchair-bound former army sergeant said he was so busy fighting communist Vietcong every day that he never imagined the defoliant would ruin his life later.
""Actually, whenever US military planes and helicopters spread Agent Orange, all of my platoon members went out, with only underwear on, to get soaked for fun,"" Jang said with a remorseful, awkward smile. ""It was kind of cool to get drenched, I remember. Also, someone said they were spreading insecticides to keep Vietnamese mosquitoes away from us."" About 320,000 South Korean troops fought alongside US soldiers in the Vietnam War, of whom more than 5,000 were killed and nearly 11,000 others wounded.
Many remains have yet to be recovered. The South Korean government officially recognizes 92,320 of those Vietnam War veterans as victims of Agent Orange, but they eke out scanty livelihoods with between US$300 and US$550 in monthly subsidies. Separately, South Korea lists 1,400 veterans as those exposed to the chemical when they served along the border with communist North Korea in 1968-69.
The US military proposed using the defoliant to thwart possible infiltration by North Korean agents. The topic has been nearly forgotten in South Korea as the US government has repeatedly denied responsibility for the defoliant's alleged links with numerous bodily side-effects. But the issue drew new attention in South Korea last month when a local court ordered two US manufacturers of Agent Orange-Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto Co.-to jointly pay $62 million in medical compensation to Korean victims.
The Jan. 26 verdict by the Seoul High Court, which overturned a lower court's ruling, marked the first time for any court of law outside the US to rule in favor of Agent Orange victims. US Federal courts have dismissed several lawsuits filed by South Korean and Vietnamese veterans, arguing that there is no scientific evidence that proves the noxiousness of the powerful weed-killer.
In an out-of-court settlement in 1984, however, the US Agent Orange manufacturers paid $180 million to U. S., Australian, Canadian and New Zealand veterans. South Korean veterans were excluded. In the Jan. 27 ruling, chief judge Choi Byung-duck said there are ""causal relations"" between the chemicals and 11 diseases such as lung cancer, larynx cancer and prostate cancer. The US firms vowed to appeal. ""This court's decision is contrary to the overwhelming weight of independent scientific evidence which has not found a connection between exposure to Agent Orange and any serious human illness, as all other courts addressing this case have found,"" they said in a joint statement.
South Korean veterans also expressed discontent with the high court ruling, saying that it didn't cover peripheral neuropathy, the most common ailment among Agent Orange victims. ""The media made a fuss as if we won the legal battle for the first time in the world, but we don't feel any difference,"" said Kang Chang-eup, a spokesman at the Korea Agent Orange Company, a Seoul-based civic group.
South Korean veterans also expressed discontent with the high court ruling, saying that it didn't cover peripheral neuropathy, the most common ailment among Agent Orange victims. ""The media made a fuss as if we won the legal battle for the first time in the world, but we don't feel any difference,"" said Kang Chang-eup, a spokesman at the Korea Agent Orange Company, a Seoul-based civic group.
Kang also said the head offices of the US firms may not feel obligated to honor the Korean court ruling, because it was directed at their branch offices in Seoul. ""We will continue to take legal action till all Agent Orange victims are compensated,"" said Kang, a Vietnam War veteran who also suffers from multiple nervous paralyses following his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. US records show 19 million liters of Agent Orange and other deadly defoliants were spread in Vietnam in 1962-71 to destroy forest cover and undergrowth shielding North Vietnamese troops and their supply lines.
Activists claim the amount totaled 80 million liters. The US stopped spraying the chemicals amid reports that they could cause serious health problems such as birth deformities and cancers. But it was only after the chemicals had already affected up to three million people, mostly Vietnamese and many South Korean and US soldiers.
""About four years after I returned home, something wrong appeared in my body,"" said Jang, who was deployed in Qui Nhon in southern Vietnam for two years as a member of the 10th Infantry Division. He was discharged from the Army as a sergeant in 1968. ""When I was 29, I abruptly fainted one day and regained my consciousness a few hours later. It happened again once in a while, and red speckles appeared on my body. It was so itchy that I had to scratch until blood oozed out,"" he said.
Jang said he has not been able to marry because of various ailments which he believes are related to Agent Orange. The veteran is paralyzed from the waist down, and he also suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure. ""I lost everything one by one... a fiance, a Chinese restaurant I ran, family members, friends and a house. They were all gone,"" said Chang, who now lives alone on a monthly government subsidy of $370. South Korean victims are also angry at their government. ""Can you imagine your comrades-in-arms, who joked and played with you yesterday, are dying today after writhing in the agony of pain in battlefields?"" said Lee Myo-sang, a former Marine private first class who also suffers from various Agent Orange-related side-effects. ""I often feel a sense of betrayal toward the government."" said Lee, who suffers from five different types of skin diseases apparently linked to the toxic chemicals. ""We fought to the end as we believed that that was for our nation and people.""
The then-authoritarian South Korean government of President Park Chung-hee pushed the troop dispatch to Vietnam. The decision was rewarded with a $1 billion US aid package and other benefits. The rewards helped South Korea rebuild its economy from the ruins of the 1950-53 Korean War, for which the late president is still revered by many South Koreans, despite his iron-fisted 18-year rule of the country.
""I no longer have any negative feeling about Park, as I have now realized everything is my fault,"" Jang said. ""A few days ago, I had a nightmare that my platoon members had a battle with Vietcong troops and shot them to death. After the fighting, we jokingly argued over who caught more Vietcong. That was exactly what we did in reality and my dream was too vivid,"" he said. ""I think I am probably having this tough life because I killed too many Vietnamese.
March 5, 1981
HERBICIDE CASE IN ARIZONA IS SETTLED
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Dow Chemical Company and the United States Forest Service have agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to five families in Globe, Ariz., who said they suffered permanent injuries 12 years ago when a defoliant was sprayed over their homes.
The amount of the settlement, reached Monday, was not disclosed. One condition imposed by Dow, the manufacturer of the defoliant, was that the amount be kept secret. In addition, the company did not admit any liability in the settlement.
Federal District Judge John K. Regan of St. Louis oversaw the negotiations. The case, which was scheduled to go to trial Monday in Federal court here, involves a herbicide called Kuron that is related to the herbicide Agent Orange, which was used as a defoliant in the Vietnam War. Two chemicals in Agent Orange, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, are found in Kuron. Lawsuit by Vietnam Veterans
Vietnam veterans who handled Agent Orange have filed a lawsuit contending that the defoliant caused them to suffer from various ailments, including cancer.
Kuron, which was first manufactured in 1954, was sprayed by the United States Forest Service to thin foliage and increase water runoff in the Pinal Mountains of the Tonto National Forest near Globe in 1968 and 1969.
Twenty plaintiffs in the Globe case contended in the suit that they started to have health problems almost immediately after the spraying.
One of the first plaintiffs, Billee Shoecraft, died in 1977 of cancer. Her husband, Willard Shoecraft, who said she began suffering from cancer after a helicopter sprayed her with the defoliant, is among the plaintiffs who settled.
Before her death, Mrs. Shoecraft wrote a book about her experience in which she said that after she was sprayed her eyes were ''nearly swollen shut,'' her arms and legs were swollen ''twice normal size'' and her hair was ''coming out in patches.''
The Dow Chemical Company and the United States Forest Service have agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to five families in Globe, Ariz., who said they suffered permanent injuries 12 years ago when a defoliant was sprayed over their homes.
The amount of the settlement, reached Monday, was not disclosed. One condition imposed by Dow, the manufacturer of the defoliant, was that the amount be kept secret. In addition, the company did not admit any liability in the settlement.
Federal District Judge John K. Regan of St. Louis oversaw the negotiations. The case, which was scheduled to go to trial Monday in Federal court here, involves a herbicide called Kuron that is related to the herbicide Agent Orange, which was used as a defoliant in the Vietnam War. Two chemicals in Agent Orange, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, are found in Kuron. Lawsuit by Vietnam Veterans
Vietnam veterans who handled Agent Orange have filed a lawsuit contending that the defoliant caused them to suffer from various ailments, including cancer.
Kuron, which was first manufactured in 1954, was sprayed by the United States Forest Service to thin foliage and increase water runoff in the Pinal Mountains of the Tonto National Forest near Globe in 1968 and 1969.
Twenty plaintiffs in the Globe case contended in the suit that they started to have health problems almost immediately after the spraying.
One of the first plaintiffs, Billee Shoecraft, died in 1977 of cancer. Her husband, Willard Shoecraft, who said she began suffering from cancer after a helicopter sprayed her with the defoliant, is among the plaintiffs who settled.
Before her death, Mrs. Shoecraft wrote a book about her experience in which she said that after she was sprayed her eyes were ''nearly swollen shut,'' her arms and legs were swollen ''twice normal size'' and her hair was ''coming out in patches.''
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/03/us/vietnam-veterans-expecting-agent-orange-benefits-soon.html?pagewanted=print
January 3, 1989
March 5, 1981
HERBICIDE CASE IN ARIZONA IS SETTLED
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Dow Chemical Company and the United States Forest Service have agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to five families in Globe, Ariz., who said they suffered permanent injuries 12 years ago when a defoliant was sprayed over their homes.
The amount of the settlement, reached Monday, was not disclosed. One condition imposed by Dow, the manufacturer of the defoliant, was that the amount be kept secret. In addition, the company did not admit any liability in the settlement.
Federal District Judge John K. Regan of St. Louis oversaw the negotiations. The case, which was scheduled to go to trial Monday in Federal court here, involves a herbicide called Kuron that is related to the herbicide Agent Orange, which was used as a defoliant in the Vietnam War. Two chemicals in Agent Orange, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, are found in Kuron. Lawsuit by Vietnam Veterans
Vietnam veterans who handled Agent Orange have filed a lawsuit contending that the defoliant caused them to suffer from various ailments, including cancer.
Kuron, which was first manufactured in 1954, was sprayed by the United States Forest Service to thin foliage and increase water runoff in the Pinal Mountains of the Tonto National Forest near Globe in 1968 and 1969.
Twenty plaintiffs in the Globe case contended in the suit that they started to have health problems almost immediately after the spraying.
One of the first plaintiffs, Billee Shoecraft, died in 1977 of cancer. Her husband, Willard Shoecraft, who said she began suffering from cancer after a helicopter sprayed her with the defoliant, is among the plaintiffs who settled.
Before her death, Mrs. Shoecraft wrote a book about her experience in which she said that after she was sprayed her eyes were ''nearly swollen shut,'' her arms and legs were swollen ''twice normal size'' and her hair was ''coming out in patches.''
The Dow Chemical Company and the United States Forest Service have agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to five families in Globe, Ariz., who said they suffered permanent injuries 12 years ago when a defoliant was sprayed over their homes.
The amount of the settlement, reached Monday, was not disclosed. One condition imposed by Dow, the manufacturer of the defoliant, was that the amount be kept secret. In addition, the company did not admit any liability in the settlement.
Federal District Judge John K. Regan of St. Louis oversaw the negotiations. The case, which was scheduled to go to trial Monday in Federal court here, involves a herbicide called Kuron that is related to the herbicide Agent Orange, which was used as a defoliant in the Vietnam War. Two chemicals in Agent Orange, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, are found in Kuron. Lawsuit by Vietnam Veterans
Vietnam veterans who handled Agent Orange have filed a lawsuit contending that the defoliant caused them to suffer from various ailments, including cancer.
Kuron, which was first manufactured in 1954, was sprayed by the United States Forest Service to thin foliage and increase water runoff in the Pinal Mountains of the Tonto National Forest near Globe in 1968 and 1969.
Twenty plaintiffs in the Globe case contended in the suit that they started to have health problems almost immediately after the spraying.
One of the first plaintiffs, Billee Shoecraft, died in 1977 of cancer. Her husband, Willard Shoecraft, who said she began suffering from cancer after a helicopter sprayed her with the defoliant, is among the plaintiffs who settled.
Before her death, Mrs. Shoecraft wrote a book about her experience in which she said that after she was sprayed her eyes were ''nearly swollen shut,'' her arms and legs were swollen ''twice normal size'' and her hair was ''coming out in patches.''
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/03/us/vietnam-veterans-expecting-agent-orange-benefits-soon.html?pagewanted=print
January 3, 1989
Vietnam Veterans Expecting Agent Orange Benefits Soon By The Associated Press
Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange will get their compensatory payments in 1989, more than a decade after veterans first sued the defoliant's makers and 16 years after American forces pulled out of Vietnam. The first payments are expected to go out in March or April.
More than 64,000 applications have been mailed to veterans or their families, and 2,000 to 3,000 more veterans applied before the Jan. 1 deadline for cash benefits. The benefits will average about $5,700 apiece.
The money comes from a fund created as part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought in 1978. The total settlement was $180 million, but with interest the fund has grown to $240 million.
Payments will be made to individuals, to families and to social service agencies that help Vietnam veterans, said Kenneth Feinberg, the court-appointed special master who helped settle the suit. 'Frustration and Relief'
''My feelings are ones of frustration and relief,'' said Mr. Feinberg. ''Frustration because it took so long and relief because those who are entitled to the money will finally get it.''
About 30,000 veterans and 18,000 survivor families are estimated to be eligible for the benefits. Early projections showed that eligible veterans would receive an average of about $5,700; the most anyone can expect to receive is $12,800.
''Even though it may not be enough money, what it does is begin the healing process,'' said Frank McCarthy, a veteran who was active in the litigation. ''These children, these families who have lost loved ones, these totally disabled veterans are the bottom line and we have to help them now.''
The Federal lawsuit was brought in 1978 by veterans who contended that exposure to the chemical defoliant caused cancer, birth defects in their children, and other illnesses. The defoliant was sprayed over Southeast Asia by the United States military to deprive Communist troops of crops and cover. Defoliant Contained Dioxin
The herbicide contains the extremely toxic chemical dioxin, a byproduct of its manufacturing process.
In 1984, hours before the trial was to start, the seven manufacturers of the chemical agreed to pay $180 million but denied liability for any injuries.
The money has since been tied up in legal challenges. The Supreme Court removed the last obstacle last June, and soon after, Federal District Judge Jack B. Weinstein in Brooklyn announced plans for disbursing the money.
Judge Weinstein, who presided over the case and continues to oversee the distribution, split the settlement fund. He set aside $170 million for the Agent Orange Veteran Payment Program, which will pay benefits to veterans considered totally disabled under Social Security guidelines and to the families of veterans whose deaths were attributed to Agent Orange. $5 for Other Veterans An additional $52 million was earmarked for the Agent Orange Class Assistance Program, which will distribute grants to social service agencies that serve Vietnam veterans and their families.
Of the rest, $5 million was distributed to military personnel from Australia and New Zealand who were exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, and $13 million went for attorneys' fees and other expenses.
The Jan 1. deadline does not affect veterans who later become aware of an illness thought to be related to Agent Orange or who later succumb to such a disease. Those claims can be filed until Dec. 31, 1994.
The Aetna Life Insurance Company was appointed to process the claims and has set up a separate unit in Hartford, Conn., to administer the payment program, said Bill Cotter, a consultant for the company. He said Aetna had already received 10,000 completed applications of the 64,000 sent out.
The seven companies named in the lawsuit were the Monsanto Company, the Dow Chemical Company, Uniroyal, Hercules, the T. H. Agriculture and Nutrition Company, the Diamond Shamrock Corporation and the Thompson Chemical Company.
The assistance program is headed by Dennis Rhoades, a Vietnam veteran who was director of the American Legion's National Economic Commission.
Mr. Rhoades said he was reviewing about 140 proposals from agencies seeking part of the $52 million fund.
More than 64,000 applications have been mailed to veterans or their families, and 2,000 to 3,000 more veterans applied before the Jan. 1 deadline for cash benefits. The benefits will average about $5,700 apiece.
The money comes from a fund created as part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought in 1978. The total settlement was $180 million, but with interest the fund has grown to $240 million.
Payments will be made to individuals, to families and to social service agencies that help Vietnam veterans, said Kenneth Feinberg, the court-appointed special master who helped settle the suit. 'Frustration and Relief'
''My feelings are ones of frustration and relief,'' said Mr. Feinberg. ''Frustration because it took so long and relief because those who are entitled to the money will finally get it.''
About 30,000 veterans and 18,000 survivor families are estimated to be eligible for the benefits. Early projections showed that eligible veterans would receive an average of about $5,700; the most anyone can expect to receive is $12,800.
''Even though it may not be enough money, what it does is begin the healing process,'' said Frank McCarthy, a veteran who was active in the litigation. ''These children, these families who have lost loved ones, these totally disabled veterans are the bottom line and we have to help them now.''
The Federal lawsuit was brought in 1978 by veterans who contended that exposure to the chemical defoliant caused cancer, birth defects in their children, and other illnesses. The defoliant was sprayed over Southeast Asia by the United States military to deprive Communist troops of crops and cover. Defoliant Contained Dioxin
The herbicide contains the extremely toxic chemical dioxin, a byproduct of its manufacturing process.
In 1984, hours before the trial was to start, the seven manufacturers of the chemical agreed to pay $180 million but denied liability for any injuries.
The money has since been tied up in legal challenges. The Supreme Court removed the last obstacle last June, and soon after, Federal District Judge Jack B. Weinstein in Brooklyn announced plans for disbursing the money.
Judge Weinstein, who presided over the case and continues to oversee the distribution, split the settlement fund. He set aside $170 million for the Agent Orange Veteran Payment Program, which will pay benefits to veterans considered totally disabled under Social Security guidelines and to the families of veterans whose deaths were attributed to Agent Orange. $5 for Other Veterans An additional $52 million was earmarked for the Agent Orange Class Assistance Program, which will distribute grants to social service agencies that serve Vietnam veterans and their families.
Of the rest, $5 million was distributed to military personnel from Australia and New Zealand who were exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, and $13 million went for attorneys' fees and other expenses.
The Jan 1. deadline does not affect veterans who later become aware of an illness thought to be related to Agent Orange or who later succumb to such a disease. Those claims can be filed until Dec. 31, 1994.
The Aetna Life Insurance Company was appointed to process the claims and has set up a separate unit in Hartford, Conn., to administer the payment program, said Bill Cotter, a consultant for the company. He said Aetna had already received 10,000 completed applications of the 64,000 sent out.
The seven companies named in the lawsuit were the Monsanto Company, the Dow Chemical Company, Uniroyal, Hercules, the T. H. Agriculture and Nutrition Company, the Diamond Shamrock Corporation and the Thompson Chemical Company.
The assistance program is headed by Dennis Rhoades, a Vietnam veteran who was director of the American Legion's National Economic Commission.
Mr. Rhoades said he was reviewing about 140 proposals from agencies seeking part of the $52 million fund.
The effects of Agent orange and its consequences
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=4490by André Bouny
1) Historical context - Decision
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
From a weaponry viewpoint, the Vietnam War is the major conflict of the twentieth century. That conflict opposes the United States of America against North Vietnamese communist Viet Minh, itself supported by Soviet Union.That conflict becomes an export of war between two world’s superpowers: the USA say wanting to stop communism in Asia whereas USSR encourages it.
Vietnam is sacrificed in a dreadful human slaughter, as the laboratory of a future war.
Three or four times the tonnage of bombs, dropped during the whole Second World War, are dumped there, that is to say the equivalent of 450 Hiroshima’s atomic bombs. The Vietnamese territory bears stigmata of twenty million consequent craters. Exploding bombs of new generation, fire bombs, blasting bombs, hollow bombs, scatter bombs… Nearly half one million tons of devices did not yet explode. Those remainders have already killed between 100.000 and 200.000 people, especially children, since during a long time more than half the population was under fifteen years old. In Cu Chi – whose meaning is “Iron earth” in Vietnamese – more than 10 tons of bombs per inhabitant drop.
United States of America sink.
The unseen and elusive Vietnamese fighters move around under their tropical forest. The records of American Army acknowledge 8.000.000 “going out” of stuffed with napalm helicopters to drive enemy out straw huts’ villages.
Without results.
United States are in a hurry. American youth and youth all over the world begin to revolt against that war. To American people the Moon was promised… in Vietnam, it will be created!
DECISION
Nineteen-sixty-one, president Kennedy lives in White House and gives the green light to that huge chemical war called first “Trail Dust Operation” before coming to light as “Hades Operation” by the name of God of the Dead and Hell among the Greek ancients. Then quickly called “Ranch Hand Operation”, because more trifling. It’s this third military code’s name of Agent orange, spraying over Vietnam and bordering areas of Laos and Cambodia, which remains in History. The “Ranch Hand Operation” aims at razing tropical forest to the ground, as well as poisoning crops, population and fighters. An epic ecocide will make numerous land species disappear for ever.
2) Methods – Quantities – Composition - Equivalences
METHODESTen per cent of spraying is done by hand, by land vehicles or by boats in the deltas or in the coastal mangroves’ swamps. Ninety per cent of the spraying is done by air, with the help of C 123 aircrafts and helicopters. The Vietnamese have no protection but this one consisting in soaking a textile in water indeed in urine and in laying it on the nose or on the mouth.
QUANTITIES
Ten years are necessary to spray 84,000,000 litres of defoliants.
COMPOSITIONS
Among those defoliants, there is Agent blue, holding cyanide particularly efficient to poison the rice fields, Agent green, Agent white, Agent purple, Agent pink, according to species to be destroyed, then Agent orange, so called because of coloured strips on the barrels containing the poison. Agent orange represents by only one 62% of the sprayed defoliants’ mass in Vietnam.
Agent orange contains the Tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, or TCDD 2,3,7.8 on account of its molecular composition. The dioxins are made of 2 benzene nuclei, 2 chlorine, fluorine or bromine molecules (4 for the most toxic variety).
The TCDD dioxin is the strongest known poison - one million times more toxic than the most harmful natural poison – and besides the most lasting one.
EQUIVALENCES
If an equivalence is not at all scientific – since it bases on a data to make a comparative projection. – it has sometimes worth to impress our mind perceiving the extent of disaster. …A 2002 study of University of Colombia of New York reveals that 80 grams of dioxin poured in a town’s water supply would kill 8,000,000 inhabitants. On that base, 40 billions times the lethal potential for one human being would have been sprayed over Vietnam.
3) Stability, food chain, entering in cells
STABILITY The TCDD dioxin is measured in picogram, that is to say in millionth of millionth of gram (10-12 gram). It has a great stability. In Vietnam, it is in soil, water, mud, sediments and so passes in the food chain.
FOOD CHAIN
In the food chain dioxin is found in large quantities in animal fat tissues, meat, milk, eggs and fish.
The scientists created a unit named TEQ – Toxic Equivalent Quantity – so as to determine a toxicity limit for food consumption. In France for instance the accepted dose is from 1 to 4 picograms per day per kilo of body weight.
In USA the accepted dose is more drastic, it is 0,0064 picogram, that is to say 160 times less than the lowest French standard.
In Vietnam that dose can reach 900 picograms per kilo of body weight per day for one person.
ENTERING IN CELLS
The cell’s nucleus is protected by a “defence perimeter” which has the part to prevent the molecules not having required structure to enter the nucleus and therefore to interfere with the genetic heritage. But, within cellular cytoplasm (i.e. the whole of cell’s elements except the nucleus) dioxin blends with a component, naturally present in every cell, the aryl-hydrocarbon receptor and will be able entering the cellular nucleus’ defences, “passing oneself off “ as a hormone. It is that complex dioxin-receptor which will mix-up the hormonal messages of our endocrinal system (the whole of glands with internal secretion, throwing in blood the produced materials called hormones) and will activate some parts of NDA, areas so-called “dioxin sensitive” and therefore involve toxic effect.
4) Unseen consequences, diseases and photographs
UNSEEN CONSEQUENCES
The Vietnamese people observe the ancestors’ worship in a fervent way. They wish an offspring able carrying on that cult. If that is not the case a large guilt appears towards ancestors. We understand why families who had one, two, three children suffering from serious handicaps conceived a fourth, a fifth and a sixth ones and more sometimes … One say that a large number of births are not listed, the children are “hidden”. It is necessary to understand the parents’ dreadful mental torture, who see their child being born with two heads or with two faces on the same head or without arms nor legs, when it’s not with external organs.
And when TCDD dioxin does not succeed passing through the mother-to-be placenta and child was born healthy, the mother, who breastfeeds him, poisons him because the maternal milk is a major elimination way for dioxin. Again, let us think the psychological devastation of mothers.
DISEASES
Even people who look to be in good health suffer often from:
- Dermatosis (chloracne, skin disease characterized by comedos, cysts and papules; hyper-
keratosis, hyper-pigmentation).
- Hepatic disorders
- Cardiovascular disorders
- Suffering of uro-genital system
- Nerve disorders (Loss of libido, migraines, peripheral neuropathies, suffering of sensorial
faculties
- Psychiatric disorders (nervousness, insomnia, depersonalization, depression, suicide)
Further to industrial dioxin accident at Seveso in Italy, Professor Bertazzi and his fellow workers at the University of Milan declares: “We begin to discern long term strange effects…. A study reveals a full inversion of sex ratio. When in common population we find a ratio of 106 males to 100 females, in Seveso it‘s 48 girls for 26 boys. Indication of a deep change in hormonal metabolisms.” The male sex has nearly half disappeared .
Today in Vietnam the third generation is there and people, sound in body and mind, father always monsters-babies with sometimes genital organs in the middle of the face.
5) Compensations, Scientific proofs,
Constitution of United States of America,
Multinational companies, Justice
COMPENSATIONS, SCIENTIFIC PROOFSConstitution of United States of America,
Multinational companies, Justice
The “Stellman report”, which is the undisputed referring study about defoliants in Vietnam, values until 4,800,000 potential or silent sprayed victims. Attention, this number does not take in account victims later poisoned by food chain during more than 40 years, nor the offspring of three next generations until today. The past and present victims are millions. How many are coming along?
The use of that chemical and indelible Mass Destruction Weapon (MDW) by American Army request a “compensation”. “We need scientific proofs” answer the American authorities who admitted a fault and compensated “theirs” veterans of Vietnam War, themselves suffering from Agent orange as well as their offspring. That is a way leaving Vietnam alone to cope with it. At the time of that American answer a blood test to research dioxin cost between 3,000 and 4,000$. Even if today that cost has gone down, how can Vietnam, which tries to find the means of its development, assume such a budget?
The link between cause and effect is admitted for some diseases and the list grow longer every year. It’s high time to admit, on the whole, diseases and malformations attributable to Agent orange. Indeed, the body of presumption is big enough : the Vietnamese victims, those ones in Laos and in Cambodia present the same disorders as the American Vietnam War’s veterans (4,200,000 GI served in Vietnam) as those ones from South Korea (300,000 were sent there), from New Zealand and Australia, having fought by their side; the same disorders as the victims, who live nearby the stoking areas in the Philippines, not to mention some persons having worked or living in spaces used before for Agent orange testing in Canada. As like for the offspring of all those ones. Of course we have to continue studying the noxious poison’s consequences, but it’s high time to admit the undeniable reality. Moreover, unlike the majority of quoted victims, the Vietnamese live and eat on the poison since more forty years.
CONSTITUTION of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA
The Constitution of the United States of America does not allow to turn against the responsible at that time officials nor against the war actions perpetrated by American Army, even if they are not “permitted” by Geneva Conventions.
MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES
As for the poison makers, they supplied the American Army for their maximum benefit, with full knowledge of the composition of its product and its destination – since June 1965, i.e. at the beginning of Agent orange spraying, an alarm on the very special toxicity of TCDD is expressed by a research in biochemistry laboratory, actually by one of the major suppliers – Among those 37 companies which made poison, the headmasters are Monsanto, Dow Chemical, Uniroyal, Diamond, Thompson, Hercules and others.
JUSTICE
On the 31st of January 2004, a few days before would fall the ten years of lifting of embargo which would thereby forbid any resort according to USA law, the Vietnam Association of Agent orange/dioxin Victims and 5 persons as individual victims lodge a complaint to First Instance Law Court of American Federal Justice in New York , located in East Brooklyn, State of New York. On September 2004, 22 other victims add themselves to the list, which may be without end…The Vietnamese complaint involves in a large and complicated procedure. Large because there are many plaintiffs, many defendants and facts taking place during a long period. There will be social, economical, and financial involvements. This trial will be complex as judicial applied viewpoint as theoretic jurisdiction. The trial of persons involved in Agent orange will be a first one in history of American justice and a trial without legal precedent.
On the 10th of March 2005, a judge, that one who defended the American veterans, themselves Agent orange victims and obtained “compensation” for them, rejects the complaint of Vietnamese victims! That judge says there is nothing in the texts of International Law which may forbid the use of herbicides. Except the fact that defoliants did not exist when some texts of International Law, in force at that time, signed by the United States of America, were not written. The real question is not to know if Agent orange sprayed over Vietnam is a poison or a defoliant , the real question is to know if that defoliant contains poison? “YES” answer the universally unanimous scientist community. A dreadfully teratogenic poison
On the 30th of September 2005, the Vietnamese victims lodged their file to the Court of Appeal.
On the 16th of January 2006, the defence of the 37 companies handed over its arguments to “its” justice.
The defence of the American chemical companies already alleged as a pretext that the use of Agent orange aimed at protecting the US troops, when they were themselves Agent orange victims as well as their offspring. That defence adds that those companies were not able to avoid an order of their government, as if every one was obliged to supply the ingredients of a Crime against humanity. The defence tries therefore to transfer responsibility on the political in that time leaders, since those ones vanished or are constitutionally inaccessible.
The Court of Appeal of New York was to make a decision on March 2006, then it moves back evoking that the chemists were not ready for oral arguments. Then it pushes back again its verdict to a few months. If the Vietnamese Agent orange victims were again dismissed, it would be a second injustice for the whole world.. An impunity which would definitely shuts the door to next plaintiffs (I think about Depleted Uranium victims) and would open largely the way to future large slaughters of this young millennium. Lastly, if the complaint of the Agent orange victims was pushed back, one would make one’s way towards an appeal to the Supreme Court of the USA which has just undergone a large change.
6) Request an urgent assistance to UN
According to texts’ interpretation, some jurists consider that this colossal ecocide is a genocide, doubled by a delayed genocide. For others, it’s a question of crime against humanity and therefore a war crime at least. However, all agree on a point: the Agent orange spraying in Vietnam is a huge blow to physical and psychic integrity of all the Vietnamese people. That mass and flagrant violation of the human rights became the most important omission overlapping two centuries. This new Human Rights Council has to bring that great tragedy of Vietnamese nation to light. A tragedy which does not come within the scope of the past, since victims continue being born at time when I’m talking to you. Agent orange sprayed over Vietnam is not only a past cataclysm but also a present disaster. Beyond arcane mysteries and differences and other complexity of International Law, the first justice to be administered to Agent orange victims is international solidarity. Today, the Human Rights Council must be not only the bridge between the victims and international opinion, whom we warn, but also and particularly the institution which releases a support on behalf of United Nations (UN). The Secretary General of UN wrote: “In the same way, the Human Rights Council would help to set up voluntary funds and to obtain a support to those funds and contributions, especially to help the developing countries.” On behalf of the “Comité International de Soutien aux victimes vietnamiennes de l’Agent Orange” (CIS) (International Support Committee to Agent orange Vietnamese victims), I solemnly ask UN an urgent, important and suited, financial assistance. Those victims, our fellow men, withstand particularly dreadful physical and psychical sufferings. They need financial means to make an inventory of fixtures in order to list the victims in the open country. They need the building of hundreds “Peace villages”, institutions greeting the Agent orange victims in Vietnam. They need equipments, assistance to train specialized medical staff. Now one value Agent orange victims, between 150,000 and 300,000 children, If a Peace Village receives between 100 and 300 victims - that is huge, taking into account the staff’s attendance night and day for severe handicaps- therefore they would need at least 1,000 Peace Villages immediately! Now, Vietnam counts eleven of them and only two may be hold as suited institutions: the “Friendship Village” in Van Canh near Ha Noï and the “Peace village” of Tu Du hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
Ladies and Gentlemen, members of 47 countries sitting at the Human Rights Council, the Vietnamese children are smiling as many world’s children but, notwithstanding the authorities’ consequent efforts, more than forty years after the beginning of Agent orange spraying, those Vietnamese children “die like dogs!”.
They are waiting your assistance.
I thank you.
Text of André Bouny, adoptive father of Vietnamese children, founder of the association D.E.F.I. Viêt Nam and chairman of the International Support Committee (ISC) to Vietnamese Agent orange Victims and to New York Trial, in front of the Human Rights Council of United Nations (UN) in Geneva, the session 2007.
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