------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/1dTolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Int'l Agent Orange conference held in France http://www.thanhniennews.com/politics/?catid=1&newsid=5533 PHOTO: http://www.thanhniennews.com/images/newsimages/dacams.jpg Nguyen Thi Hoa, a 20-year-old girl affected by Agent Orange, lies on her bed in Nhan Loc commune, central province of Ha Tinh http://www.truthout.org/imgs.art_01/3.agent.orange.victim_sm.jpg Five-year-old Agent Orange victim Xuan Minh, right. Vietnamese Agent Orange victims have angrily condemned a U.S. court's dismissal of their lawsuit accusing a string of U.S. chemical firms of crimes against humanity. The victims have pledged to continue their legal battle. (Photo: AFP) Hundreds of scientists, historians, activists and journalists meet in Paris to discuss the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam, a few days after a US court dismissed Vietnamese victims� lawsuit against US chemical firms. The conference, attended by some 300 officials, historians, scientists, journalists, and activists from many countries, started on Mar. 11 and is expected to focus on Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin in Vietnam. A Vietnamese delegation led by Trinh Ngoc Thai, vice-president of the Vietnam-France Friendship Association, attended the conference, sponsored by the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (FVFA). Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Dinh Bin was also present. In his opening speech, FVFA President Francis Gendreau highlighted the significance of the meeting, saying that the conference will focus its discussion on both physical and moral effects on Vietnamese people from AO/Dioxin sprayed by the US military during the war in Vietnam. Cancer, diabetes and birth defects Between 1961-71, the US army sprayed about 80 million liters of defoliants known as Agent Orange, containing 400 kilos of dioxin on 2.6 million hectares of land (about 10 percent of southern Vietnam's total land), he said, stressing "This was a great tragedy as millions of Vietnamese people were directly affected by the toxin." A large number of people in France, Europe, the US and elsewhere in the world took to the street to protest the US war in Vietnam, he recalled, saying "The FVFA led the anti-war movement by organizing the first seminar condemning the US chemical warfare in Vietnam." The president called upon the world community to support Vietnam, which remains a poor nation, and share with its people the pain of AO/Dioxin, saying "Vietnamese AO/Dioxin victims need assistance with legal action and the crime of using this toxin must not go unpunished." In her speech, former Vietnamese vice President Nguyen Thi Binh said although 30 years after the war the Vietnamese government and people have done their best to put the war behind, the heavy legacy of the war still lingers on in the country. "There is nothing more painful than witnessing the day by day effects of AO/Dioxin suffered by millions of Vietnamese people, such as cancer, diabetes and birth defects appearing in the second and third generations of descendants of those who were exposed to the toxic defoliants," Mrs. Binh told the conference. She called on people of all strata across the world to lend a hand to Vietnamese AO/Dioxin victims in order to help them overcome the burden of the consequences of war. She also called upon the US to take every responsibility to work together with the Vietnamese people to remove the effects of the American led war. "Immediate help should be given to Vietnamese AO/Dioxin victims, especially support for them in the lawsuit against 37 US chemical companies for justice," she stressed. (Source: Vietnam News Agency) =========+========= FEEDBACK? http://nativenewsonline.org/Guestbook/guestbook.cgi GIVE FOOD: THE HUNGERSITE http://www.thehungersite.com/ Reprinted under Fair Use http://nativenewsonline.org/fairuse.htm =========+========= Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Native News Online a Service of Barefoot Connection Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nat-International/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
