[News] Judge says poisoning 150, 000 Vietnamese children is no crime

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Thanh Nien News - 11 March, 2005
http://www.thanhniennews.com/politics/?catid=1&newsid=5509

Agent Orange victims blast U.S. verdict, vow to keep fighting

Vietnamese Agent Orange victims have slammed the U.S. court dismissal
of the Agent Orange case against chemical companies and said they
would legally fight the decision until justice had been achieved.

On March 10, U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein dismissed
the lawsuit, saying he disagreed that the allegedly toxic defoliants
and similar U.S. herbicides should be called poisons banned under
international rules of war.

"His verdict is completely unreasonable and unjust," Nguyen Trong
Nhan, vice president of the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent
Orange/Dioxin told Reuters a day after the decision.

The ruling by the US federal court shows its irresponsibility toward
miseries of millions of AO victims and their families in Vietnam,
stressed the association later in a declaration.

"We will pursue the suit until justice is done," the declaration
said.

Continuing the fight

Lawyers representing Vietnamese Agent Orange victims plan to appeal
to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal.

The lawsuit should only be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, said
William H. Goodman, one of the plaintiff's lawyers in the lawsuit
filed by Vietnamese Agent Orange victims against 37 U.S. chemical
companies that produced the toxin.

Mr. Weinstein wrote in his 233-page ruling that "no treaty or
agreement, express or implied, of the United States made the use
of herbicides in Vietnam a violation of the laws of war or any other
form of international law until at the earliest April of 1975."

"The plaintiffs could not prove that Agent Orange, sprayed by the
U.S. forces from 1961-1971, had caused their illnesses, largely
because of a lack of large-scale research," he added.

However, Mr. Weinstein did reject an argument from the chemical
companies that they were shielded by rules protecting military
contractors from lawsuits for providing war material.  If supplying
contaminated herbicides had been a war crime, the chemical companies
could have refused to do it, argued the judge.

He also affirmed that the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent
Orange/Dioxin had a legal right to represent the Vietnamese victims
in the lawsuit and that it was not tied down by the U.S. law on
time limitation to sue. Thus, Vietnamese Agent Orange victims can
appeal to higher courts in accordance with U.S. law, said Mr.
Weinstein.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Moore, representing the plaintiff's lawyer
delegation, said although the war had been over for 30 years,
Vietnamese victims were still being affected by the dioxin.

Mr. Moore said he would pursue the lawsuit to the very end in order
to bring justice to the Vietnamese victims.

Discontentment

Speaking to local and foreign reporters in Hanoi, Spokesman of the
Vietnam Foreign Ministry Le Dzung said: Vietnamese people are
discontent with the verdict of the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
Whatever the verdict is, the truth is always that the Agent
Orange/dioxin, which the U.S. army used during the Vietnam War, has
had dire consequences for Vietnams people and environment.

Forty years have passed, but the consequences have continued until
now. Many research projects by Vietnamese and U.S. scientists have
affirmed the fact. Millions of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims have
suffered fatal diseases. Children with congenital malformation
caused by the chemical have led difficult lives.

The lawsuit filed by Vietnamese Agent Orange victims against U.S.
chemical firms is perfectly legitimate. The companies have to bear
legal responsibility for all victims of the chemical, not only
American veterans but also Vietnamese victims, Mr. Dzung said.

Global support

Immediately after the judge's decision was announced, foreign
organizations expressed their strong oppositions to the decision
and committed to continuing their campaigns for the justice.

"Judge Weinstein has made it easier for our country to continue to
evade moral responsibility for the consequences of its actions,"
John McAuliff, executive director of the New York-based Fund for
Reconciliation and Development, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility
Campaign (VAORRC) called on all American organizations and people
to increase their support to Vietnamese victims in their continued
case to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal and to demand the U.S.
government take legal and moral responsibility to compensate the
Vietnamese victims.

U.S. and international laws provide Vietnamese Agent Orange victims
with the right to prove their case against those who have profited
so handsomely from the manufacturing of the dioxin, said VAORRC.

Dave Cline, a representative of American Veterans for Peace, said
that American veterans would be obliged to heal the wounds caused
by Agent Orange in the war and to seek ways to bring justice to
those suffering from the horrific effects of the toxic chemical.

After a long period of struggle by American veterans, U.S. Congress
in 1991 conceded that Agent Orange had effects on American veterans
who joined the war in Vietnam, said Mr. Cline.

He demanded that Vietnamese victims be treated like American veterans
affected by the dioxin and called on American veterans to take part
in a wide-spread campaign to achieve justice for the Vietnamese
victims.

(Source: Vietnam News Agency & Reuters)

Copyright Thanh Nien News



------------------------------


BBC News Online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4336941.stm

JUDGE SAYS POISONING 150,000 VIETNAMESE CHILDREN IS NO CRIME

BBC - A US federal court in New York has dismissed a legal action
brought by Vietnamese plaintiffs over the use of Agent Orange during the
Vietnam War. The plaintiffs had sought compensation from the firms that
manufactured the chemical, which allegedly caused birth defects,
miscarriages and cancer. They said use of the defoliant - to strip away
forest cover during the war - was a war crime against millions.

But Judge Jack Weinstein ruled there was no legal basis for their
claims. The civil action was the first attempt by Vietnamese plaintiffs
to claim compensation for the effects of Agent Orange, which has been
linked to a multitude of heath problems, including diabetes.

However, the chemical companies said no such link had been proved. The
defendants - including Dow Chemical and the Monsanto Corporation - also
argued that the US government was responsible for how the chemical was
used, not the manufacturers. They maintained that US courts could not
punish corporations for carrying out the orders of a president
exercising his powers as commander-in-chief.

In a 233-page ruling, Judge Weinstein threw out the case, saying: "There
is no basis for any of the claims of plaintiffs under the domestic law
of any nation or state or under any form of international law."


------------------------------


Obedience to Authority:

"Lawyers for chemical manufacturers Monsanto, Dow Chemical and a
dozen other companies argued the firms should not be punished for
following the orders of the nation's president and that international
law exempted corporations from liability for alleged war crimes."

What would Stanley Milgram say of this?

AP - March 12, 2005

Agent Orange Plaintiffs to Appeal Ruling By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- A former North Vietnamese soldier who spent
years fighting in the war, Nguyen Van Quy is devoting himself to
another long battle -- this one against Agent Orange.

Quy, 50, a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the U.S.
manufacturers of the wartime defoliant, said he does not plan to
give up hope despite a U.S. federal judge's decision Thursday to
dismiss the case accusing the companies of committing war crimes
by supplying Agent Orange.

``I'm determined to pursue the case until the end, because this is
justice. I'll fight, not just for myself, but for millions of
Vietnamese victims,'' said Quy, who is fighting stomach and liver
cancer he blames on his exposure to Agent Orange. ``Those who
produced these toxic chemicals must take responsibility for their
action.''

U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein threw out the case in New
York, saying it had no basis in law and the plaintiffs could not
prove that Agent Orange had caused their illnesses, largely because
of a lack of research.

``There is no basis for any of the claims of plaintiffs under the
domestic law of any nation or state or under any form of international
law,'' he said in a 233-page ruling.

During the Vietnam War, U.S. aircraft sprayed more than 21 million
gallons of defoliant, mostly Agent Orange, over the country from
1962 to 1971 to destroy crops and remove the communist forces'
cover. It has been blamed for a vast range of health problems.

The group that filed the suit, the Vietnam Association for Victims
of Agent Orange, said it plans to appeal.

``Weinstein has turned a blind eye before the obvious truth,'' said
Nguyen Trong Nhan, the group's vice president. ``It's a shame for
him to put out that decision. We just want justice, nothing more.''

The lawsuit was the first-ever attempt by Vietnamese plaintiffs to
seek compensation for the effects of Agent Orange, which contains
the toxic chemical dioxin.

Lawyers for chemical manufacturers Monsanto, Dow Chemical and a
dozen other companies argued the firms should not be punished for
following the orders of the nation's president and that international
law exempted corporations from liability for alleged war crimes.

Many U.S. veterans and Vietnamese have long blamed Agent Orange for
cancer, diabetes, spina bifida and other problems. The U.S. government
claims there is no direct evidence linking dioxin to the ailments.

However, about 10,000 U.S. veterans receive disability benefits
related to Agent Orange exposure.

Vietnam estimates that some 3 million people were exposed to the
herbicide and another 1 million were directly affected by it.

Vietnam's government has never formally asked for compensation for
Agent Orange victims, though Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung
repeated Hanoi's contention that the United States has a moral
responsibility to heal the wounds of war.

``Regardless of what the court's ruling is, it can't change the
truth that the Agent Orange used by the U.S. forces during the war
in Vietnam caused extremely heavy consequences to the Vietnamese
people and environment,'' he said. ``Solving the consequences of
Agent Orange is a pressing humanitarian issue.''

Quy, the former soldier, believes Agent Orange is also responsible
for the birth defects in his two children. His 18-year-old son was
born with spinal problems and mental disabilities, while his
14-year-old daughter is deaf, mute and developmentally disabled.

``I don't know how long I can live, but if I die, my family, my
friends will continue to pursue the suit to ensure justice,'' he
said.

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