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SOCIAL IN BRCongressmen and lawyers ask US government to compensate AO victims
The hearing was organised by the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives.
At the event, entitled 'Our forgotten responsibility: What can we do to help victims of Agent Orange,' congressmen, lawyers and American war veterans affirmed that AO/dioxin sprayed by the US army during the Vietnam war has caused serious effects on US armymen and the Vietnamese people, and the US government has to compensate and support AO victims.
Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Chairman of the subcommittee, criticised Bush Administration for denying the US's liability for Vietnamese victims, who were exposed to AO during the war.
The congressman said that the U.S. has a 'high moral duty' to help fix the damage caused by 10 years of U.S. use of the toxic chemical defoliant on the jungles of Vietnam.
In his speech about liability for AO/dioxin victims, lawyer Jeanne Mirer, general secretary of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, affirmed that the US government violated the international law, when using toxic chemicals in Vietnam. The 1907 Hague Convention banned the use of toxic weapons during the war. Therefore, the lawyer said that the US has liability to support Vietnamese AO victims.
The lawyer praised the organisation of the first hearing on AO/dioxin, considering it a beginning step to urge the US government to implement its forgotten responsibility for Vietnamese AO victims.
Dr Vaughan Turekian, chief international officer for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), mentioned scientific assesses on AO effects on human being and the environment, calling for efforts to settle consequences of AO in Vietnam.
Representatives from the Vietnam Veterans of America all called on the US Government and companies which supplied AO to US troops during the Vietnam war to take responsibility for AO victims.
Doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, former vice chairwoman of the National Assembly and former director of the Tu Du Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Vietnam, highlighted the consequences of AO/dioxin used by the US army during the war.
She stressed the efforts made by the Vietnamese Government to settle the consequences, improving the environment of places with high concentration of AO/dioxin, and the support from the international community for Vietnamese victims.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel said the US Government will continue pursuing constructive measures to coordinate with the Government of Vietnam and other partners in dealing with AO related issues.
(Source: Nhan Dan) , See more Pics at www.tuthien.vn
