Vietnamese fight back on Agent Orange
Feb 27, 2004 Asia Times
http://www.atimes.com
HO CHI MINH CITY - During the Vietnam War, US forces sprayed some 76 million liters of Agent Orange and other defoliants in a campaign known as Operation Ranch Hand. Its goal was to deprive Viet Cong (revolutionary) troops of vegetation they used for cover and food, but more than 30 years later its effects are still lingering, and now they're driving legal action by a number of Vietnamese.
"I'm glad that finally some concrete action has been taken against American chemical firms, asking them to be responsible for the harm that their Agent Orange has done to Vietnamese people," said Vietnam War veteran Nguyen Vinh, 54.
Vinh, who blamed his cancer and his daughter's cerebral palsy on the defoliant used by US and South Vietnamese forces between 1961 and 1971, referred to a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange on February 5 in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
The first-of-its-kind action seeks compensation for health problems tied to the defoliant's carcinogenic active ingredient, dioxin. Prepared with help from the newly formed, non-governmental Vietnam Association for Agent Orange Victims (VAAOV) on behalf of three Vietnamese plaintiffs, the lawsuit has invigorated many, including Vinh.
"I'm going to ask VAAOV to help lodge my case soon," said Vinh, who explained that he was exposed to Agent Orange while fighting against US troops in Tay Ninh province, near the Cambodian border.
Like Vinh, many victims - who cope daily with cancers, nervous disorders and other illnesses tied to high dioxin levels in their blood - are watching the latest lawsuit closely to see if they, too, might ease their suffering with money won through legal action.
The lawsuit names three victims: Nguyen Van Quy, who suffers from lung cancer and fathered two children with birth defects; Nguyen Thi Phi Phi, who has had four miscarriages; and breast-cancer patient Duong Quynh Hoa.
International scientists and Vietnamese government officials have said that Agent Orange has damaged Vietnam's environment, destroyed forests, killed animals and caused health problems not only to Viet Cong troops but also to US soldiers operating in the region.
In 1984, US veterans won US$180 million in compensation for death and illness from Agent Orange manufacturers, in a settlement that involved no admission of liability on the companies' part. Then just last year the US Supreme Court ruled that veterans could press further claims despite the earlier settlement.
Vietnam's government has put the number of Agent Orange victims nationwide at more than 3 million, but a Columbia University study published last year suggested that the figure is closer to 5 million and that the contamination is much worse than previously thought.
Victims are scattered throughout northern and southern Vietnam, where the problem was exacerbated by US and allied forces when they abandoned dioxin at numerous southern air bases. The chemical then leaked into the water table, scientists said.
The government, which has tried to help Agent Orange victims but faces complaints that its aid has come too little too late, is not party to the victims' lawsuit.
Tran Thanh Danh, a 57-year-old former lieutenant-colonel in the People's Army, said, "The US should be taken to account for the Agent Orange issue. If the government dares not ask compensation from the US, then we will do it ourselves."
Danh said the government preferred to seek humanitarian and rehabilitation aid for victims, rather than confront US firms with legal action, so as not to damage relations between the two countries. Nguyen Trong Nhon, deputy chairman of VAAOV, said the US government ought to do more to help.
"We have already helped the US with the MIA [missing in action] issue," he said, referring to Vietnamese efforts to locate and repatriate missing US troops, or their remains. "Now it's their turn to help us solve the Agent Orange problem."
Nhon, a former health minister and president of the Vietnam Red Cross, said the government had asked Washington to help Vietnamese Agent Orange victims but its efforts had yet to yield results. That, he added, was why his association was formed earlier this year to help Vietnamese plaintiffs.
"It's high time for us to use the legal way," Nhon said. "Even in the US, war veterans affected by Agent Orange did not get any assistance and had to lodge a lawsuit."
Meanwhile, Le Van Tran, a lawyer here, warned that the lawsuit ought not to rankle relations between Washington and Hanoi. "We have finally learned to play the legal game with the US, just like the game it has played against our catfish and shrimps," he said, referring to recent trade disputes (see US shrimp dumping charge is small fish, February 27). "It is a civilian case," he added. "Vietnamese citizens have the right to ask US chemical firms to compensate them for the harmful effects of their products."
VAAOV's Nhon said his group planned to help other Agent Orange victims to file suit but cautioned that the process could be arduous. "There are lots of Agent Orange victims in Vietnam but it's not an easy thing to complete the necessary documents required by US law," Nhon said. Even so, he added, "We hope to win the first lawsuit to make a good debut for other cases to come."
(Inter Press Service)