Twenty nine US lawyers to represent Agent Orange victims in lawsuit

Twenty nine lawyers from four law firms in the United States have agreed to fight on behalf of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims in their lawsuit against 37 US chemical companies which supplied Agent Orange to the US army to be used in Vietnam during the war, according to an official of the victims association.

Vietnamese Agent Orange victims

Lawyer Le Duc Tiet, a member of Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA) executive board, said several of the lawyers have arrived in Vietnam to collect evidence for the lawsuit. All of the US lawyer will come to Vietnam for consultations with their Vietnamese counterparts before submitting documents which will supporting their appeal to the court on September 30.

Two Vietnamese lawyers taking part in this lawsuit are Tiet himself and Luu Van Dat. The VAVA and the two lawyers are working hard to prepare supplementary evidence and legal arguments for a hearing at the US Second Circuitl Court of Appeal, which is likely to be held after the first week of March next year.

More than one and a half years have passed since the Vietnamese victims launched the lawsuit on January 31, 2004 . As scheduled, on September 30, the VAVA - the plaintiff in the lawsuit - will submit to the US Court of Appeal documents supporting their request for appeal, which was lodged on April 8 this year. On January 16 next year, the defendants will file their reply documents, and the plaintiffs are to lodge their response on March 1. A direct hearing before the US Court of Appeal is likely to be held after the first week of March.

According to Prof. Nguyen Trong Nhan, Deputy President of the VAVA, the association has prepared medical records of the victims who have high concentrations of dioxin in their blood and lipid tissue to submit to the US Court of Appeal. The supplemented records will be examined by US lawyer before being submitted.

The association, Nhan added, has also contacted prestigious foreign lawyers and scientists for their advice on the case. VAVA plans to organise conferences in support of Agent Orange victims in the US , Germany , the Republic of Korea and Canada to make the world public aware of the lawsuit and past injustices. A group of Vietnamese AO victims will visit the US at the end of this year to open an exhibition and have meetings with the US public to help the latter gain a better understanding of the victims grievances.

The lawsuit filed by Vietnamese AO victims has been receiving support and assistance from the international community. Recently, secretary of the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Association (BVFS) Len Aldis urged the British Government to propose the United Nations make August 10 as the International Day for Vietnamese AO victims.

BVFS has urged British Congressmen to put forward a proposal to support the AO victims at congress a move to draw congressional attention - and so far twenty-nine UK congressmen have signed in the proposal.

A BVFS delegation headed by Len Aldis is scheduled to meet with representatives of the US Embassy in London on Aug. 10 to discuss issues relating to the US army use of AO during the Vietnam war. The delegation will also ask the US Embassy to deliver its letter to US President George Bush. The letter contains the updated number of signatures in support for Vietnamese AO victims via website: www.petitiononline.com/AOVN, which has so far gathered over 690,000 signatures.

(Source: Vnanet)