28 February 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Andrew Wells-Dang (Hanoi) 0904-245 461 (English/Vietnamese/French)

Susan Hammond (New York) 1-212-760-9903, shammond@ffrd.org (English)

Vietnamese Agent Orange Appeal Deserves a Fair Hearing

On the occasion of today’s court hearing in Brooklyn, New York (USA), the Fund for Reconciliation and Development (FRD) calls on the US Government and the chemical companies that produced wartime defoliants to accept responsibility for the unintended human and environmental consequences of their use during wartime.

According to FRD’s Vietnam representative, Andrew Wells-Dang, “This hearing is a historic step forward towards accountability and humanitarian assistance for people affected by Agent Orange. The families of civilians and combatants on all sides in the Vietnam-US War have been waiting for this day for a long time. We do not know what the outcome of the lawsuit will be, but we hope that the plaintiffs have a full opportunity to present their evidence in court.”

While FRD is not a party to the lawsuit filed by the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) in US court, we support the right of the plaintiffs to a fair trial and seek to disseminate information about the background and process of the lawsuit. A full selection of documents relating to the court case, including statements submitted by the plaintiffs and defendants, is posted online at http://www.ffrd.org/Lawsuit/Lawsuit.htm. More extensive background information, including links to scientific studies, books, films and other materials relating to the issue of Agent Orange, can be found at http://www.ffrd.org/agentorange.htm.

FRD’s Deputy Director, Susan Hammond, is currently helping to facilitate the US visit of Dr. Phan Thi Phi Phi, one of the plaintiffs in the case, from 1-9 March. Dr. Phi Phi will speak at, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Politics (2 March), and Bates College, Maine (3 March) . Dr. Phi Phi will then travel to Washington DC and will speak at the monthly Indochina Roundtable in Washington on 7 March. The Roundtable is co-hosted by FRD and Georgetown University under the leadership of FRD Washington Representative Catharin Dalpino.

Ms. Hammond will travel to Paris to attend the conference sponsored by the Franco-Vietnamese and Vietnam-France Friendship Societies. She will then come to Vietnam beginning on or around 25 March and will be available for interviews during late March and early April.

During late March and early April, FRD will be hosting a series of American visitors in Vietnam, leading up to the commemoration of the 30^th anniversary of peace between our two countries. These will include folk singer Peter Yarrow of the group Peter, Paul and Mary, retired journalist Seymour Topping, and members of the families of American intelligence officers who worked with the Viet Minh in 1945. Some of these visitors will also be available for press interviews during their time in Vietnam.

The Fund for Reconciliation and Development (FRD) is an independent American non-governmental organization that has worked since 1985 to foster and preserve normal diplomatic, economic, educational, cultural and people-to-people relations between the United States and Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Cuba. FRD addresses the lessons and legacies of war and hostility through public education, dialogue, capacity building and direct humanitarian assistance.

In the US, FRD is coordinating an educational project to raise awareness about the lingering consequences of the chemicals used during the Vietnam War and to encourage support for alleviating their human health and environmental effects. FRD is working with anthropologist Diane Fox to organize a traveling exhibition that, she says, “will invite reflection on the extended meanings that Agent Orange has acquired, ranging from a herbicide, to a synonym for dioxin, to a generic for all the chemicals used, to a symbol for the long-term effects of war.”

In Vietnam, FRD operates in partnership with the North America Department of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) in three project areas: War Legacies, US-Vietnam Relations, and Regional Development Education. FRD’s representative acts as coordinator of the Agent Orange Working Group under the VUFO-INGO Resource Center in Hanoi.

[end]