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Hanoi, November 25th, 2005
Dear friends,
In order to subdue Viet Nam during the war, the United States
undertook from 1961 to 1971 a campaign called "Operation
Ranch Hand". The campaign consisted of widespread spraying
of herbicides allegedly for defoliation and crop destruction purposes.
In reality, it amounted to chemical warfare of a magnitude never
seen in the history of mankind, in violation of international
law and that of the United States itself.
This chemical warfare occurred over a large area – 17% of southern
Vietnam, with 4 to 5 million people exposed resulting in about
3 million victims, half of whom, civilians. The devastation was
caused by the use of a colossal amount of chemicals – up to 110
thousand tons — contaminated with toxic byproducts, such as, Agent
Blue (with arsenic), Agent White (with hexachlorobenzen), and
particularly Agent Orange with its very high content of dioxin.
Those agents have harmed both the environment and human health,
not only in the immediate but also in the long term. Thanks to
the condemnation from many people in America and in the world,
the United States were forced to ban the use of those "herbicides"
in 1971, while the war was still raging.
Thirty years after the end of the war, Viet Nam is rebuilding
but the wounds caused to the land and to the mind and body of
those exposed to dioxin have not healed. On the contrary, these
wounds have become more visible with time, like the manifestations
of long-term later deadly diseases, such as soft-tissue sarcoma,
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and conditions affecting offspring such
as spina bifida and congenital malformations. Such diseases cause
not only debilitation but also deformity, not only physical pains
but also deep mental wounds with extensive long-term social implications.
Chemical warfare and, in particular, the use of Agent Orange,
has impacted not only the Vietnamese but also a whole range of
people in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea
and Canada... Vietnamese victims, however, are the ones who have
suffered the most. They are today among the most unfortunate and
destitute people in Viet Nam.
In recent years the government and people of Viet Nam have tried
to help these survivors. In this difficult task we have received
and are thankful for the assistance of friends all over the world.
The reality, however, is that much more is needed. The survivors
now need help to achieve justice, to demand that those who harmed
them be held accountable, to demand that the United States participate
in the efforts to alleviate the consequences of the war as they
committed to in the Paris Agreement for all victims, American
and Vietnamese alike.
To these ends, on January 30, 2004, the Vietnamese victims of
Agent Orange/dioxin filed a class action lawsuit in the federal
district court in Brooklyn against the manufacturers and suppliers
of the toxic chemicals. The District Court dismissed their lawsuit
on the ground that the chemicals used were merely herbicides,
not poisons, which was more a political consideration than legal
reasoning.
Dear friends,
We have filed an appeal in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
The court will make a decision after the oral argument scheduled
to take place in the first weeks of March 2006.
Assistance to the victims, many of whom are slowly dying, has
become a burning issue. The Association of Vietnamese Victims
of Agent Orange/dioxin and the victims themselves are appealing
to you and to all people of goodwill to help them in their struggle
for survival and justice. We need more of you to speak up, and
to speak up more forcefully.
Let us do together what we can to help the Vietnamese victims
in their quest for justice. You will be helping more than one
generation of victims, you will be helping not only Vietnamese,
but Americans and many others as well. You will be giving, in
fact, a second chance to all those who have been harmed, and thereby,
will make this world more peaceful, more just, and safer.
My heartfelt thanks for your concern and support.
Dang Vu Hiep
President
Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin
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