One of the torchbearers for the Vietnamese victims is Kim Vo Dinh, a Swedish-Vietnamese Frenchman, and champion of the global AO justice movement. Kim is the volunteer international representative for the Paris-based Collectif Viet Nam-Dioxine (the Viet Nam Dioxin Collective), which seeks global recognition and aid for the estimated three to four million sufferers of birth defects, mental retardation, blindness, cancers, and a host of other illnesses. Kim came to the US this summer, using his vacation time from his computer-engineering job in Paris, to network with his American counterparts.
In San Francisco, he teamed up with Diana Ruiz, coordinator of the US Dow Accountability Network. Dow, the largest chemical company in the world, manufactured Agent Orange for the aerial spraying of vast areas of Viet Nam from 1961 to 1971. American veterans fought a legal battle for many years to receive compensation for AO-caused health problems, efforts that were constantly thwarted by the medical and scientific cover-up. Finally in 1984, our vets received $180 million in aid, thus setting a legal precedent—although many had died already and continue to die from the chemical poisoning.
In January of 2004, the Viet Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA) filed a lawsuit against 30 US chemical corporations, Dow being the principle one. Kim and Diana presented an update on the lawsuit and talked about their efforts on behalf of Vietnamese survivors of AO at Global Exchange's offices in mid-July.
GX: How did the Dioxin Collective come about?
KVD: France is the former colonizer of Viet Nam, and there are many groups focused on AO there, but there was a need for an umbrella organization to bring all the work together. An estimated 300 million kilos were dropped, mainly in the south and the center of the country, and an estimated 4.8 million have died because of AO since spraying started in 1961.
This is on top of the more than three million deaths from the bombing and fighting. Viet Nam is still recovering from the destruction of the war, and for a poor family to have sometimes several disabled children who need a lot of care, is a huge social, medical and economic drain.
GX: Diana, what is your involvement in this work?
DR: I actually coordinate the US Bhopal Campaign and Dow Accountability Network. Since Dow bought Union Carbide, the US chemical giant responsible for the Bhopal disaster of 1984 in India, Dow is now liable for that incident which killed 8,000 and left 150,000 suffering from prolonged illness.
Those victims have also filed a civil suit in the US District Court of New York, claiming damages for environmental contamination, but have received no justice yet. The VAVA's suit was dealt a setback as well. Judge Jack Weinstein ruled against the suit in March of this year, stating that, "Agent Orange only causes a mild skin rash."
GX: What are the next steps in this quest for justice? KVD: The suit is under appeal, and will be heard again and settled next spring. We look to the people of the US to help us by supporting the lawsuit and by aiding the victims. There will be worldwide demonstrations on October 1st and November 6th. Going to Viet Nam to see the truth of the situation will inspire Americans to pressure your government and corporations to take responsibility after all these years.
When I visited a clinic and school for children born disabled by Agent Orange, there was a young girl without arms who wrote her home work with her feet. Her handwriting was better than mine. When she finished her schoolwork, she put her pen and papers in her school bag, zipped it up and carried it out.
Her example gave us a lot of hope. With the help of this clinic, she is able to imagine a new life, but for the more than 200,000 children, only a few of them get some kind of help. Was there not recognition of the damage done to American soldiers? Then why not for these children?
The Fund for Reconciliation and Development (FRD) is the lead US support group for the VAVA lawsuit brought by the Viet Namese victims, please consider making a donation. To support FRD's work, the VAVA lawsuit, or Agent Orange clinics with a tax deductible contribution, visit www.ffrd.org/support.html The Fund for Reconciliation and Development
355 West 39th Street
New York, NY 10018
Web site : www.ffrd.org
Phone: (212) 760-9903
Extension "2 #" - Susan Hammond, Indochina Desk
shammond@ffrd.org
Ms. Nguyen Trang Thu is a lawyer in the team representing VAVA, she is based in New York City and works directly with FRD.
For more information or to make donations to the two organizations whose representatives are featured above, contact Viet Nam Dioxin Collective at contact@vietnam-dioxine.org, www.vietnam-dioxine.org, and US Dow Accountability Network, diana_ruiz@earthlink.net, www.thetruthaboutdow.org.