Vietnamese AO victims have right to ask for compensation

(11-03-2005)

Washington — Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO) victims have the full legal right to ask for compensation from the American companies that produced the toxic chemical, said the lawyer for the Vietnamese victims, Constantine P. Kokkoris.

Kokkoris has represented the Vietnamese plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by Vietnamese AO victims against American chemical companies who produced AO for the US army to use during the war in Viet Nam.

He spoke about the February 28 hearing of the lawsuit at a seminar jointly held by the Edmund Walsh College at Georgetown University and the Fund for Reconciliation and Development (FRD).

Among those present at the seminar were some well-known American professors who study issues relating to Viet Nam and the region, including Professor Catharin Dalpino of Georgetown University, Professor Frederik Z. Brown and Professor Carlyle Thayer of Johns Hopkins University.

Speaking at the seminar, Dalpino said that the seminar aimed to inform the attendants of the new developments of the lawsuit as well as the up-to-date discoveries of the effects of dioxin on people.

It would also be a chance for researchers to speak about the possible impacts of the lawsuit on Viet Nam-US relations and the moral responsibilities of the US side for the AO victims, the professor stressed.

Dr. Phan Thi Phi Phi, who is testifying on the behalf of the Vietnamese AO victims at the lawsuit, spoke about the serious consequences of dioxin on people who lived in the areas affected by the AO that the US army sprayed during the war.

Recent statistics say that about 300,000 Vietnamese children have birth defects as a consequence of AO.

Cuba’s take on AO

The war in Viet Nam, which ended 30 years ago, continued much longer for the Vietnamese Agent Orange victims because many of them died of blood cancer and other cancers, reported Granma Daily of the Communist Party of Cuba on Wednesday.

Written by Raul Valdes Vivo, a well-known Cuban scholar, the article referred to the lawsuit filed in Brooklyn, New York by Vietnamese AO victims against 37 US chemical firms.

It also discussed the fact that the judge has not yet made a final ruling because he said he needs more time to examine the legal evidence.

The lawsuit has been supported by people all over the world, including Viet Nam war veterans, the article said.

The article also condemned the severe consequences of AO sprayed by the American troops during the war in Viet Nam and asked the US chemical makers to take responsibility and compensate the Vietnamese AO victims. — VNS