Le procès à travers la presse et la radio 15-09-2007 Agent Orange, Indemnisation des Victimes (... au Canada) Radio Canada 19-06-2007 L'agent orange en procès à New York France 24 15-06-2007 L'agent orange poursuit ses ravages au Vietnam Réseau Canoë 27-03-2007 Ministry offers support to dioxin sufferers Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand) 21-03-2007 Agent Orange : Des soldats seront indemnisés Radio Canada 12-03-2007 The Last Battle of Vietnam Time 05-03-2007 Philips taken to court over Agent Orange claims worth 1 bln eur CNN Money 12-02-2007 Monsanto dumped toxic waste in UK The Guardian - UK 12-02-2007 Dioxine : aide américaine à décontaminer l’aéroport de Dà Nang Courrier du Vietnam 09-02-2007 US cash for Agent Orange study BBC 30-01-2007 Late US veteran gives $50,000 aid to Agent Orange victims 14-12-2006 Recherches sur cancer et produits chimiques financées par l'industrie chimique ? Actualités News Environnement 09-12-2006 Un chercheur rémunéré par l'industrie chimique NouvelObs.com 05-06-2006 Vietnam: pas d'indemnisation des victimes de l'Agent orange Romandie.com 01-06-2006 Agent orange, Ottawa publie ses rapports d'enquête Radio Canada 24-05-2006 VIETNAM • "L'agent orange est une arme de destruction massive" www.courrierinternational.com 01-05-2005 The things they still carry Daily Southtown 30-04-2005 For victims of Agent Orange, final battle still being waged Fairfax Digital (Australia) 29-04-2005 US appeals court to consider Agent Orange appeal in June Vietnam new agency 27-04-2005 Vietnam les oubliés de la dioxine Le Monde .fr 25-04-2005 Trente ans après la guerre, un million de Vietnamiens souffrent encore des effets du terrible Agent Orange. Ouest-France 24-04-2005 Rediscovering Vietnam: Agent Orange's effects St Louis Today (St Louis Web site 24-04-2005 A long-ago war's grimmest legacy lives on NorthJersey.com 22-04-2005 GAO Report on Agent Orange: Limited Information Is Available on the Number of Civilians Exposed in Vietnam and Their Workers' Compensation Claims All American Patriot 17-04-2005 Agent Orange Dioxin Raises Cancer Risk in Vietnam Veterans Food Consumer 12-04-2005 Spokane native to be honored posthumously The SpokesMan-Review.com 09-04-2005 Vietnamese appeal U.S. court's ruling on Agent Orange case Newsday.com 08-04-2005 Vietnamese Agent Orange victims file appeal request Thanh Nien News 07-04-2005 US abandons health study on Agent Orange Nature 434, 687 01-04-2005 Peter Yarrow apologizes to Vietnam Associated Press |
From: ABC Online - Australia La page peut être déjà retirée. Vietnamese victims seek compensation for Agent OrangeEdmond Roy [01-03-2005] This is a transcript from The World Today. The
You can also listen to the story in
The World Today - Tuesday, 1 March , 2005 12:40:00 Reporter: Edmond Roy ELEANOR HALL: Chemical companies in the United States are urging a federal court judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of Vietnamese people who claim they're suffering from health problems caused by the US use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese are seeking compensation from the firms that manufactured the chemical. But the chemical companies say no health link has been proved and that the US Government is responsible for how the chemical was used. Edmond Roy reports. EDMOND ROY: Arguing alongside the chemical companies is the US Justice Department, both seeking to dismiss the case. The chemical companies argue that the US courts have no power to penalise corporations for executing the orders of a president, and that international law generally exempted corporations as opposed to individuals from criminal and civil liability for alleged war crimes. The Justice Department argued that opening the US court system to former wartime enemies could threaten presidential power to wage war. At the heart of the case is the allegation that chemical companies such as Monsanto, Dow Chemical and more than a dozen others violated international laws barring the use of poison and chemical weapons by producing Agent Orange. Agent Orange, the plaintiffs say, is also responsible for tumors, birth defects and other serious health problems. They’re seeking potentially billons of dollars in damages. In Vietnam, there's no doubt who's responsible for the medical problems. Nguyan Van Oug, who has watched his son struggling to cope with his difficulties, explains what he hopes to achieve with this case. NGUYAN VAN OUG (translated): In this lawsuit we are asking primarily for justice and secondly for money. Currently we are in a very difficult situation, even though the Vietnamese Government has provided support. But the fact is, that the country has had to face many difficulties since the war ended. EDMOND ROY: The lawyer acting on behalf of the Vietnamese, Constantine Kokkoris, agrees. CONSTANTINE KOKKORIS: I think that most people in America and around the world believe that the Vietnamese people have been wronged, that this was unjust and unfair, and I'm confident that a US court will agree that this was unfair and that compensation has to be paid to these victims, and that something has to be done to remove this contamination so that it will not continue to be a threat to future generations here in Vietnam. EDMOND ROY: But in the District Court in New York, both the Justice Department and the chemical companies argue that there has been no conclusive link between Agent Orange and health problems. But on the other points of law, district judge, Jack Weinstein appeared to disagree with the defendants. He questioned whether presidential orders exempted corporations, noting that similar actions during the Second World War by German corporations did not go unpunished. In 1984, after years of court battles, seven American chemical corporations paid $180-million to settle a class action by American war veterans. Today, Glyn Young, a spokesman for Monsanto, one of the companies involved refused to acknowledge any link between Agent Orange and medical problems. GLYN YOUNG: The overwhelming weight of all of the independent scientific evidence on Agent Orange shows that there's no connection between exposure and any serious human illness. Second, the use of Agent Orange was first authorised by President Kennedy, and he did it to save the lives of US and allied servicemen. As a manufacturer of Agent Orange for the Government, we were following the Government's instructions for its production. EDMOND ROY: The US army discontinued the use of Agent Orange in the late seventies, but legal battles have continued ever since. This case before the District Court in New York drew little attention when first filed, but it has become an important test of the reach of American courts and is being watched keenly by international law experts and lobby groups worldwide. ELEANOR HALL: Edmond Roy with our report. |
|
