Vietnamese-French citizen Tran To Nga (Photo: VNA) The court said it did not have jurisdiction to judgea case involving the US Government’s wartime actions, ruling that the US firms wereacting on orders from the US Government which was engaged in a “sovereign act”.
VAVA’s statement emphasised that the court madea decision that was not based on the principles of existing international law anddid not sufficiently consider relevant factors.
Its decision rejecting Nga’s lawsuit shows thatit denied the right of French citizens who suffered damage from foreign legal entitiesto be recognised by the French law.
The statement also mentioned an announcement fromNga’s lawyers in which they said the court applied an obsolete definition of theimmunity of jurisdiction principle that contradicted modern principles of internationaland national law.
The court did not take into account relevant factorssuch as US companies being free to participate in tenders to produce toxic chemicalsfor profit and not being forced to do so.
It also did not consider the fact that the chemicalcompanies had known that dioxin was a highly toxic substance but still intentionallychanged the technical process to shorten the production time of AO, thus reducing costs and increasing profits.
VAVA emphasised that the Evry court should reconsiderits decision and expected that an appeal court would consider all relevant factorsto make a ruling requiring US chemical companies to pay compensation.
The association also affirmed its backing for Nga’sappeal and hoped that all lovers of peace, justice and progress around the worldwould support her and other AO victims in Vietnam.
Nga, 79, accused 14 multinational chemical companies,including herbicide manufacturer Monsanto (now under Germany’s Bayer Group), ofsupplying the herbicide and defoliant chemical that was used extensively by theUS army between 1961 and 1971 in Vietnam, causing serious consequences for 4 millionpeople and severely poisoning the environment.
An AO victim herself, Nga has pursued the lawsuitfor over a decade, including six years in court.
She graduated from university in Hanoi in 1966 andbecame a war correspondent for the Liberation News Agency. She worked in some ofthe most heavily AO/dioxin affected areas in southern Vietnam, such as Cu Chi, BenCat, and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ultimately being contaminated herself. Shesuffers from a number of acute diseases.
Of her three children, the first died of heart defectsand the second suffers from a blood disease. A grandchild of Nga also suffers fromAO-related illnesses.
With support from several non-governmental organisations,she filed the lawsuit against the US companies for causing lasting harm to the healthof herself, her children and countless others, and destroying the environment./.
The statement also mentioned an announcement fromNga’s lawyers in which they said the court applied an obsolete definition of theimmunity of jurisdiction principle that contradicted modern principles of internationaland national law.
The court did not take into account relevant factorssuch as US companies being free to participate in tenders to produce toxic chemicalsfor profit and not being forced to do so.
It also did not consider the fact that the chemicalcompanies had known that dioxin was a highly toxic substance but still intentionallychanged the technical process to shorten the production time of AO, thus reducing costs and increasing profits.
VAVA emphasised that the Evry court should reconsiderits decision and expected that an appeal court would consider all relevant factorsto make a ruling requiring US chemical companies to pay compensation.
The association also affirmed its backing for Nga’sappeal and hoped that all lovers of peace, justice and progress around the worldwould support her and other AO victims in Vietnam.
Nga, 79, accused 14 multinational chemical companies,including herbicide manufacturer Monsanto (now under Germany’s Bayer Group), ofsupplying the herbicide and defoliant chemical that was used extensively by theUS army between 1961 and 1971 in Vietnam, causing serious consequences for 4 millionpeople and severely poisoning the environment.
An AO victim herself, Nga has pursued the lawsuitfor over a decade, including six years in court.
She graduated from university in Hanoi in 1966 andbecame a war correspondent for the Liberation News Agency. She worked in some ofthe most heavily AO/dioxin affected areas in southern Vietnam, such as Cu Chi, BenCat, and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ultimately being contaminated herself. Shesuffers from a number of acute diseases.
Of her three children, the first died of heart defectsand the second suffers from a blood disease. A grandchild of Nga also suffers fromAO-related illnesses.
With support from several non-governmental organisations,she filed the lawsuit against the US companies for causing lasting harm to the healthof herself, her children and countless others, and destroying the environment./.
VNA
