The Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) issued a statement on April 13 protesting a worldwide event to be held on April 18 sponsored by several US producers of toxic chemicals used in the American war in Vietnam.
The event, the Dow Live Earth Run for Water, is sponsored by Dow Chemical, Monsanto Chemical, and other US chemical companies. VAVA called the event ‘hypocritical.’
It criticised these companies for calling themselves pioneers in cleaning water and yet not taking any measures to clean up the hotspots of contamination from Agent Orange (AO) sprayed on Vietnam by US troops, fully knowing how harmful the chemical would be to people’s health and the environment.
In its statement, the association called on the international community to speak in the same voice with Vietnam in demanding that these companies compensate Vietnamese AO victims.
VAVA also held a press briefing in Hanoi the same day reporting that its delegation will travel to the US to continue the campaign to mobilise US public support for Vietnamese AO victims’ fight for justice.
The campaign, scheduled to run from April 14 to May 16, will be carried out in coordination with Veterans for Peace of the US and the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign Board.
The delegation’s members include Nguyen Thi Hien, who is President of the Association of Victims of AO of the central city of Da Nang , and Pham The Minh, an AO victim living in the northern port city of Hai Phong .
The delegation is expected to meet with AO activists, including US war veterans, students and overseas Vietnamese, in Los Angeles , Chicago , Atlanta , Washington , New York , and San Francisco .
The trip to seek justice for Vietnamese AO victims is the fifth made by the VAVA since its first trip in 2004.
According to VAVA President Nguyen Van Rinh, his association plans to launch a new lawsuit in the US in 2011.
In March, 2009, the US Supreme Court rejected petitions against US chemical companies lodged by Vietnamese AO victims and denied the lingering effects of AO in Vietnam that have been proven by many Vietnamese and foreign scientists./.
The event, the Dow Live Earth Run for Water, is sponsored by Dow Chemical, Monsanto Chemical, and other US chemical companies. VAVA called the event ‘hypocritical.’
It criticised these companies for calling themselves pioneers in cleaning water and yet not taking any measures to clean up the hotspots of contamination from Agent Orange (AO) sprayed on Vietnam by US troops, fully knowing how harmful the chemical would be to people’s health and the environment.
In its statement, the association called on the international community to speak in the same voice with Vietnam in demanding that these companies compensate Vietnamese AO victims.
VAVA also held a press briefing in Hanoi the same day reporting that its delegation will travel to the US to continue the campaign to mobilise US public support for Vietnamese AO victims’ fight for justice.
The campaign, scheduled to run from April 14 to May 16, will be carried out in coordination with Veterans for Peace of the US and the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign Board.
The delegation’s members include Nguyen Thi Hien, who is President of the Association of Victims of AO of the central city of Da Nang , and Pham The Minh, an AO victim living in the northern port city of Hai Phong .
The delegation is expected to meet with AO activists, including US war veterans, students and overseas Vietnamese, in Los Angeles , Chicago , Atlanta , Washington , New York , and San Francisco .
The trip to seek justice for Vietnamese AO victims is the fifth made by the VAVA since its first trip in 2004.
According to VAVA President Nguyen Van Rinh, his association plans to launch a new lawsuit in the US in 2011.
In March, 2009, the US Supreme Court rejected petitions against US chemical companies lodged by Vietnamese AO victims and denied the lingering effects of AO in Vietnam that have been proven by many Vietnamese and foreign scientists./.
