A group representing Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange lashed out at the US on Friday for failing to address the consequences of the use of the highly toxic defoliant during the Vietnam War.
"The Vietnamese people with their tolerant humane tradition have expressed their willingness to cooperate with the United States to resolve post-war issues," the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange said.
"Regrettably, their goodwill has not been reciprocated," the organization, which was established earlier this year under the umbrella of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party, added in a statement.
PHOTO: AFP
In a move that was considered inevitable given Washington's failure to atone for its use of Agent Orange, the Association filed a lawsuit on Jan. 30 at a Federal Court in New York against more than 30 US chemical companies.
The suit was lodged on behalf of six victims in Vietnam and all other Vietnamese nationals exposed to herbicides during the war. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
The defendants, who include Dow Chemical and Monsanto, are accused of complicity to war crimes and crimes against humanity, among other charges.
"The lawsuit is not only for the sake of their own lives but also for the legitimate interests of all Agent Orange victims, including those in other countries and even in the US," the Association said.
The legacy of Agent Orange remains a source of contention between Vietnam and the US, who only established diplomatic relations in 1995, two decades after the war ended.
From 1961 to 1971, the US and South Vietnamese military sprayed millions of liters of toxic herbicides, mainly Agent Orange, over South Vietnam to destroy the vegetation used by communist forces for cover and food.
Hanoi says Agent Orange has caused health problems for more than one million Vietnamese and continues to have devastating consequences.
A study, released in August last year by scientists from the US, Germany and Vietnam, found that the defoliant was still contaminating people through their food.
Dioxin, its deadly component, can cause an increased risk of cancers, immunodeficiencies, reproductive and developmental changes, nervous system problems and other health effects, according to medical experts.
Vietnam says the US has a moral and humanitarian responsibility to heal the wounds of the war but it has never formally asked for compensation for Agent Orange victims.
Washington, however, insists there is no direct evidence linking dioxin with any illnesses.
Agreeing to disagree, both governments signed a pact in March, 2002 on a framework for more research into the impact of the defoliant.
The Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange appealed to "compatriots" across the world to give their backing to the legal proceedings.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘POINT OF NO RETURN’: The Caribbean nation needs increased international funding and support for a multinational force to help police tackle expanding gang violence The top UN official in Haiti on Monday sounded an alarm to the UN Security Council that escalating gang violence is liable to lead the Caribbean nation to “a point of no return.” Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Haiti Maria Isabel Salvador said that “Haiti could face total chaos” without increased funding and support for the operation of the Kenya-led multinational force helping Haiti’s police to tackle the gangs’ expanding violence into areas beyond the capital, Port-Au-Prince. Most recently, gangs seized the city of Mirebalais in central Haiti, and during the attack more than 500 prisoners were freed, she said.
RSS