Fight for justice for Vietnamese AO victims earns int’l headlines

A screenshot of the article on Tran To Nga's lawsuit posted on Junge Welt newspaper (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Over the past days, the international media continue runningarticles highlighting Vietnamese-French Tran To Nga’s lawsuit against 14multinational companies for producing and selling chemical toxins used by theUS army in the war in Vietnam, which have destroyed the environment andaffected the health of generations of Vietnamese people.

In a new article on Germany’s Junge Welt newspaper, authorStefan Kuhner said that the trial, conducted in the Crown Court of Evry city ofFrance, may be one of the last attempts to bring justice to Vietnamesedioxin/Agent Orange victims.

The lawsuit was filed by the Vietnamese-French woman againsta dozen of companies which produced and sold chemical toxins, including theAgent Orange widely sprayed over southern Vietnam by the US army from1964-1971.

The use of 80 million litres of Agent Orange and otherherbicides aimed at destroying tropical forests where Vietnamese soldiers werehiding or using as medical stations and military bases, and damaging crops offarmers.

The article affirmed that the US army’s action could bedescribed as a chemical war under international law whose serious consequenceshave endured until now.

It also cited Nga as saying that the crime must beacknowledged and justice should be done, and she would continue fighting formillions of other victims.

A screenshot of the article on Tran To Nga's lawsuit posted on Der Bund daily newspaper (Photo: VNA)

Switzerland’s Der Bund daily newspaper also posted anarticle praising the courage of the 79-year-old woman who is suffering fromserious illnesses, but stubbornly fighting against 14 major chemical groups tofind justice for millions of Vietnamese dioxin/AO victims.

The article quoted Nga as saying that she has neverforgotten what the Agent Orange/dioxin has caused in Vietnam, the crime againsthumanity must be punished and related companies must bear responsibility.

However, up to now, Vietnamese dioxin/AO victims have yet toreceive any compensation, while the affected US servicemen were compensated bythese chemical firms.

A screenshot of the article on Tran To Nga's lawsuit posted on Der Bund daily newspaper (Photo: VNA)

Tran To Nga graduated from a Hanoi university in 1966 andbecame a war correspondent of the Liberation News Agency, now the Vietnam NewsAgency (VNA). She worked in some of the most heavily AO/Dioxin affected areasin southern Vietnam such as Cu Chi, Ben Cat and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail,ultimately experiencing contamination effects herself.

Among her three children, the first child died of heartdefects and the second suffers from a blood disease.

In 2009, Nga, who contracted a number of acute diseases,appeared as a witness at the Court of Public Opinion in Paris, France, againstthe US chemical companies.

On April 16, 2015, the Crown Court of Evry city held thefirst hearing on the case, but since then, lawyers of the sued chemicalcompanies tried every way to prolong the procedures.

The trial was scheduled to open in October 2020 but waspostponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic./.

VNA