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INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
FOR VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE!
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French Version
English Version
The Vietnam Dioxin Collective
calls for an international mobilization week for the victims of
Agent Orange just before the U.S. Veterans Day (on November 11,
2005).
"It was red, white, blue and orange
during San Francisco's Veterans' Day Parade."
CBS
11/5/2005)
It's exactly 30 years ago Vietnam recovered peace. But today,
many families are still suffering from the effects of the American
chemical war, which took place between 1961 and 1971.
Today more than one million people suffer from serious diseases,
including different types of cancer and disabilities, as a result
of the sprayings of defoliants and herbicides, and in particular
AGENT ORANGE, which contained large amounts of DIOXIN. 200 000
children are now the third generation of victims suffering from
malformations and severe defects of the immune and the nervous
system.
During the past 30 years neither the US government nor the manufacturers
of Agent Orange have chosen to bring any help to the victims.
In 2004, Vietnamese victims filed a class-action lawsuit against
the 37 companies which produced the deadly defoliants (principally
Dow Chemical and Monsanto), as the U.S. veterans did in 1984.
At that time, the American veterans only obtained 180 million
dollars in an out-of-court settlement. The Vietnamese victims'
suit was dismissed by the same judge in a federal district court
in New York on March 10th, 2005. The victims are appealing this
decision.
In reaction to this tragedy, citizens and associations all over
the world have joined forces in an international campaign to:
- Support the present
legal action of the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent
Orange/Dioxin, against the manufacturers of Agent Orange;
- Demand that social
and medical assistance be urgently brought to the most severely
hit population;
- Testimony for peace.
Vietnam Dioxin Collective
First French organisations that support this international call:
Action des Citoyens pour le Désarmement Nucléaire (Citizens for
Nuclear Disarmament), Aides Viet-nam (Help for Vietnam), France-Vietnam
Friendship Association), Association Republicaine des Anciens
Combattants (Veterans Republican Association), Van Canh Friendship
Village, D.E.F.I. Viet-nam, Droit et Solidarite (member of International
Association of Democratic Lawyers), Enfant du Monde - Droit de
l'Homme (Children of the World – Human rights), Peace Movement,
le MJC (Young Communist Movement), le MJS (Young Socialist Movement),
Mouvement national de lutte pour l’environnement (National Environmental
Movement), MRAP (Movement against Racism for Friendship among
Peoples), Sud Chimie (Chemical South Trade union), Tam viet, l'UNEF
(Student Trade union), Union of the Vietnamese in France, Union
of Vietnamese Students in France), Union of the Vietnamese Youth
in France, Les Verts (The Greens), Viet-nam les Enfants de la
dioxine (Vietnam, Children of Dioxine).
AN INTERNATIONAL MOBILIZATION
Several cultural events and demonstrations supporting the victims
of agent orange will be organized throughout the week of November
6th, 2005.
San Francisco
Veterans For Peace will officially join the Veterans Day's parade
with portraits of the victims.
Contact : Nadya Williams
and Diana Ruiz.
New York
Press and email blitz organized by The Vietnam Agent Orange Relief
& Responsibility Campaign. Contact : info@vn-agentorange.org.
2005 JUSTICE TOUR:
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Santa
Fe, Raleigh/Durham, the Bay Area, Portland, Seattle, … : American
and Vietnamese victims will tour in a dozen cities in the U.S.
from November 13 to December 13, 2005, organized by the Vietnam
Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign. See Tour
Preview.
Bruxelles (Belgium)
11th of November : Concert in support of the victims of dioxin
by Nguyen Thanh Tung (musician, victim of the dioxin), organised
by Truong Son Band and Vietnam, Child of the Dioxin.
Contact : Do Thi Chuong
Dai.
Stockholm (Sweden)
6th of November : Rally organized by the Comité pour la Paix (Committee
for Peace) and the Association of Vietnamese Students. Seminars
on the 7th and the 8th of November on "Agent Orange and its
effects – 30 years after the Vietnam war". Contact : Mai
Vodinh.
Aix la Chapelle (Aachen, Germany)
6th of November: Concert supporting the victims of agent orange
with Nguyen Thanh Tung (musician also victim of the dioxin), organized
by the Union of Vietnamese in Germany, Child of the Dioxin. Contact:
Bich Ngoc HUYNH.
Madrid (Spain)
6th of November : Rally organized at the initiative of the Vietnamese
-Hispanic Cultural Institute.
Contact : Miguel Bordera.
La Coruña (Spain)
6th of November : Conference and film projection on agent orange
organized by the Vietnamese -Hispanic Cultural Institute. Contact
: Miguel Bordera.
Santiago de Compostelle (Spain)
6th of November : Rally organised at the initiative of the Vietnamese
-Hispanic Cultural Institute.
Contact : Miguel Bordera.
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P.J.Griffiths/Magnum