Home > Vietnamese AO victims garner more support at UN Human Rights Council

Vietnamese AO victims garner more support at UN Human Rights Council

by Open-Publishing - Saturday 31 March 2007

Wars and conflicts Justice International Health

Paris (VNA) – Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin have garnered further support at the fourth session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Mar. 27.

Speaking at the meeting, André Bouny, Chairman of the international committee in support for the Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin victims and the New York trial (CIS), recalled the period between 1961 and 1971 when the US military sprayed 84 million tonnes of defoliant over Viet Nam , and called upon the international community to support the victims.

He gave scientific evidence of the toxic chemical’s serious environmental consequences, as well as its impact on health of many generations of people in Viet Nam .

Citing international conventions and laws, the activist stressed that the US military’s use of AO during the Viet Nam war should be considered genocide or at least a war crime because of the serious consequences in the past, at present, and even in the future of the country.

Reporting to the Council’s meeting on developments in the Vietnamese AO victims’ lawsuit against US chemical firms that produced defoliant for the US military, Bouny urged the UN agency and the international community to support the lawsuit and demand the US firms compensate Vietnamese victims.-Enditem

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