US court holds hearing on Vietnamese AO victims’ lawsuit appeal

10:24' 20/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – The US Court of Appeals on June 18 held oral arguments on the appeal filed by Vietnamese AO/Dioxin victims in their lawsuit against 37 US producers and suppliers of toxic chemicals which cause durable harms on environment and people’s health in Vietnam. The lawsuit was dismissed two years ago by a federal inferior court on the ground of insufficient legal evidence. At the hearing, lawyers of the plaintiffs emphasised the high level of danger from Agent Orange/Dioxin sprayed by US troops on battlefields during the past war in Vietnam. Moreover, a large quantity of the toxic chemicals were used over a period of 10 years even though the US authorities and chemical companies had been warned of the danger from the chemicals. The lawyers stressed that AO/Dioxin has left paramount consequences on the environment and many generations of Vietnamese. They held that the case should be brought back to the court in the US for trial. Lawyers representing the defendants argued that US chemical companies had not known about the high dangerous level of AO. They said that even now science has not been able to prove the close ties between the toxic chemicals used by the US troops in Vietnam in the past and the serious diseases that the Vietnamese side said to be caused by AO/Dioxin. The US Court of Appeal will decide if the case will be bring back to the US court in the near future. A delegation of Vietnamese AO victims, led by Tran Xuan Thu, Vice President-cum-General Secretary of the Viet Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), attended the hearing. The delegation also met with the press before and after the hearing. Many press agencies, including the Associated Press and MSNBC of the US, Reuters of the UK and Ria Novosti of Russia, participated in these meetings. Around 100 US people, many of whom were veterans, joined meetings in support of AO victims before the hearing. The participants wore orange ribbons and took with them orange balloons and boards demanding justice for AO victims. Thu told the press after the hearing that as it is not a criminal but civil case, nobody will be jailed or accused, but Vietnamese AO victims are asking for justice and compensation. The plaintiff’s representative, lawyer Konstantine Kokkoris, said US chemical companies should take responsibility for causing serious consequences to humans and the environment in Vietnam. He also said he hoped that the judges would quickly bring the case to court for trial again. Thu said if decision by the Court of Appeal falls short of the association’s expectation, it will take the lawsuit to the US Supreme Court. (Source: VNA)