Nguyen Xuan Minh, age 6, rests in his bed at Tu Du hospital’s 'Peace Village'  in Ho Chi Minh City on May 25, 2007. The boy is suffering from physical deformities caused by his parents' exposure to Agent Orange. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder).

The Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee has appealed to people globally along with governments and organisations to support the Vietnamese Agent Orange victims in their lawsuit against 37 US chemical producers.

It called on governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, scientists, lawyers and all others worldwide to stand up to tell the truth about Agent Orange and give practical assistance to Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.

The Presidium said the lawsuit did not aim to stir up old hatreds but voiced the call for consciousness and the execution of the rights for justice and moral standards.

It went on to say that the lawsuit was filed not only for the lives of Agent Orange victims in Vietnam but also for the legitimate interests of US war veterans who were exposed to the AO defoliant during the war in Vietnam.

The Presidium demanded the US chemical producers who supplied AO/dioxin defoliant to US troops during the war to take responsibility and give appropriate compensation to Vietnamese AO victims. (VNA)

AO victims’ receive US public support

Mr Paul Fox and Ms Merle Ratner welcome Ms Nguyen Thi Hong (right) and other Agent Orange victims at San Francisco airport.

Three US television networks ran coverage on a delegation of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims that arrived in the US for the first oral argument of a lawsuit filed by the AO victims, to be heard before the US Court of Appeal on June 18.

In an e-mail sent to the Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper on June 14, the General Secretary of the Vietnam-US Friendship Association, Hoang Cong Thuy, said that US public opinion was strongly in favour of the plaintiffs in their lawsuit against the US chemical companies that provided the toxins that were sprayed by the US Army during the Vietnam war.

According to Thuy, the delegation also met with US supporters of their case, including, War Veterans for Peace and United for Peace and Justice.

At the meeting, the four victims in the delegation spoke of their exposure to Agent Orange and their and their children's health problems that have been brought on by the dioxins.

According to Thuy, US supporters of the case are optimistic that a favourable decision will be reached by the Court of Appeal, as an earlier ruling had been handed down in favour of US war veterans in their earlier case against the same chemical companies.

Adding weight to their argument have been the calls of support for the Vietnamese AO victims from nations that fought against Vietnam during the war.

The delegation is scheduled to make stops in San Francisco, New York, Washington DC, Chicago and Los Angeles in order to rally support for their upcoming case. (VNA)

World Peace Council backs Vietnamese AO victims

The World Peace Council has voiced support for the Vietnamese Agent Orange victims’ lawsuit against US producers of toxic chemicals sprayed onto Vietnam during the Vietnam war.

The WPC supports the legitimate request of the Vietnamese people and will actively join in support campaigns for Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims in their legal action, said a WPC’s statement released on June 14-15.

The statement also said that there is a lingering suffering for millions of Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims who now live with diseases and malformations caused by the toxic chemicals.

The WPC added that like itself, many other organisations worldwide have voiced their support for Vietnamese victims’ request for compensation from the US chemical companies, which will be heard in an oral argument at the US Court of Appeals in New York on June 18.

The Vietnamese AO/Dioxin Victims’ Association (VAVA) together with victims had earlier brought a lawsuit against 37 US chemical companies to court in the US in January 2004. (VNA)