Tran Xuan Thu, Deputy Head of the Viet Nam Association for Agent Orange/dioxin Victims (VAVA), announced Sept. 30, that American lawyers representing Vietnamese plaintiffs against U.S. chemical companies will appeal Judge Jack Weinstein's decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Brooklyn.
 |  | |  Thai Thi Nga, a victim of Agent Orange | | | ©2005 Hoang Nam | On March 10, 2005, Judge Weinstein dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange against Dow, Monsanto, Hercules, Diamond Shamrock -- the chemical companies that produced the defoliants/herbicides which the U.S. Army used during the Vietnam War.
Thu said the lawyers will present the appeal court with hundreds of pages of documents in which they stress that Agent Orange contains overdosed toxic chemicals. Millions of Vietnamese people have been affected by Agent Orange sprayed by U.S. forces over 30 years ago. Vast areas of land in many provinces were contaminated. According to Thu there is clear evidence that U.S. chemical companies violated international laws and they must take responsibility to compensate the Vietnamese victims and detoxicate affected areas.
Lawyers believe they can persuade the Second Circuit Court of Appeals with such documents and evidence.
The defendants will then have until Jan. 16, 2006 to respond, after which the plaintiffs have until March 1 to respond. Oral arguments will be heard before the Court of Appeals sometime in March 2006. The results of the appeal could take several months.
On Jan. 30, 2004, a team of American lawyers from the National Lawyer's Guild filed a lawsuit against American chemical companies that supplied defoliants to the U.S. government for use in Vietnam from 1961 to 1971.
In support of the Agent Orange victims, in early October the Vietnamese and French Friendship Association will organize marches in Paris and five other cities in France: La Rochelle, Nimes, Toulouse, Beziers and Albertville. Another march will be held by about 300 overseas Vietnamese in Verona, Italy.
A survey by Zogby International shows that 51.4 percent of Americans agree that the chemical companies should compensate Vietnamese citizens who have been affected by Agent Orange. Of those polled, 64.4 percent believe that the U.S. government also has a moral responsibility in the case.
The U.S. sprayed over 80 million liters of herbicide on Vietnam. Agent Orange is currently affecting up to three generations of people.
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