Paris [France], April 29: Specifically, the Paris Court of Appeal (France) plans to open a hearing on May 7 (local time) on a civil lawsuit between the applicant, Ms. Tran To Nga, one of the victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, and chemical corporations involved in the US campaign to spray Agent Orange/dioxin during the Vietnam War .
Never give up
Information about the trial was announced at a recent meeting at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Association in France in Paris, jointly organized by Ms. Tran To Nga and a group of lawyers and supporting associations, according to VNA. Ms. Tran To Nga said she has been pursuing the lawsuit since 2009, after testifying at the "International Court of Public Opinion for Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin" in Paris.
In the court of public opinion, she recounted the tragic story of herself and her family. From 1966 to 1970, when she was a reporter for Liberation News Agency, Ms. Nga worked in areas most heavily sprayed with Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam such as Cu Chi, Binh Long, Ho Chi Minh Trail... After that, Ms. Nga had 3 daughters who were all affected by Agent Orange/dioxin, something she later learned.
The first child, born in 1968, lived only 17 months before dying of a congenital heart defect. The second child has a cervical vertebrae deformity, and the third child has a congenital atrial septal defect. And when the third generation was born, Ms. Nga discovered that the obsession called Agent Orange /dioxin had not stopped. Her grandchild has a red blood cell defect (according to what she once shared with Thanh Nien ).
Ms. Nga's story attracted the attention of one of the lawyers present in court at that time, Mr. William Bourdon of the Paris Bar Association. When he learned that Ms. Nga had French citizenship, he asked her to proceed with the lawsuit and pledged to devote all his efforts to helping her. However, at that time, French civil law did not allow its judges to conduct international proceedings.
However, with the help of lawyers, including Mr. Bourdon, Mr. Bertrand Repolt, Ms. Amelie Lefebvre, and related organizations, she spent 4 years collecting medical evidence showing that she and her direct descendants were Effects of Agent Orange/dioxin. She herself suffers from 5 out of 17 diseases, disabilities, deformities, and deformities related to exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin according to the list prescribed by the Ministry of Health, Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs of Vietnam.
By 2013, the international law powers of the French court were re-established, whereby lawyers were entitled to carry out international lawsuits to protect French citizens against another country that had harmed them. In May 2013, the Evry Court, where Ms. Nga lives in the suburb of Essonne, south of Paris, received lawsuits against 26 American chemical companies, including Monsanto and Dow Chemical. In April 2014, the court opened its first session, only 19 companies that produced toxic chemicals used in the Vietnam War were present because many of the remaining companies had merged or dissolved.
On January 25, 2021, the Evry Crown Court held a hearing with the presence of representatives of 14 chemical companies. On May 10, 2021, the court ruled not to accept Ms. Nga's request for the above companies. The ruling clearly states that chemical companies produced toxic chemicals at the behest of the US government, so the French court did not have enough jurisdiction to hear the case. Ms. Nga and her lawyers announced their appeal.
Responding to DW Radio in May 2021, Ms. Tran To Nga shared about victims of Agent Orange who "lost their legs, feet and arms" and suffered many injuries all over their bodies. "But they are brave, very brave. The only thing they want is to live with dignity," she said about the victims of Agent Orange she met in Vietnam.
Important trial
On May 7, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, the appeal trial will be opened in Paris. Ms. Nga emphasized that the legal battle she persistently pursued was not only against the use of Agent Orange/dioxin, but also created a new foundation for other struggles for the environment.
According to AFP, Ms. Nga is so far the first and only civilian to file a lawsuit against 14 multinational chemical companies that produced and sold Agent Orange used by the US military during the Vietnam War.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper