Trần Tố Nga undeterred by court’s rejection of lawsuit in seeking justice for AO/dioxin victims

Trần Tố Nga. — AFP/VNA Photo

PARIS — The Paris Court of Appeal’s rejection of the lawsuit filed by Tran To Nga against US manufacturers of Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin is not a surprise for the French-Vietnamese woman, who said she will not give up but continue to pursue this lawsuit.

On August 22, the Paris Court of Appeal rejected the lawsuit filed by Nga against the US chemical corporations that supplied AO/dioxin for the US army to use during the war in Việt Nam.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Nga, who is also an AO/dioxin victim herself, said she is not surprised at this ruling, and that she will not give up but keep pursuing this lawsuit.

As Nga’s representatives, William Bourdon and Bertrand Repolt from the Bourdon law office expressed their determination to stay on their client’s side.

The fight by their client does not end with this ruling, and they will take the case to the highest appeals court, the lawyers said, noting that judges of the Paris Court of Appeal held a conservative attitude that runs counter to the modernity of law, as well as international law and European law.

The highest appeals court will make the decision, they added.

Nga’s pursuit of the lawsuit over the past 15 years showed her extraordinary will and the firm support of peace-loving people for her.

Born in 1942 in the southern province of Sóc Trăng, Nga used to work as a war correspondent of the Liberation News Agency (now Vietnam News Agency) and became contaminated with dioxin during wartime. Medical examination results show that the dioxin level in her blood is higher than the regulated level that leads to serious health impacts. She suffered from five out of the 17 diseases, disorders, deformities, and malformations associated with dioxin exposure recognised by the US.

Not only Nga herself but her children also suffered from heart and bone defects. Her first child died of heart defects at 17 months of age.

In 2009, Nga appeared as a witness at the Court of Public Opinion in Paris against the US chemical companies to support AO/dioxin victims in Việt Nam. After that, with support from some French lawyers and social activists, she decided to sue the US chemical companies.

She is one of the few persons able to pursue AO/dioxin-related lawsuits since she has all the three necessary conditions of being a French-Vietnamese citizen; residing in France, where lawyers are permitted to file international lawsuits in defence of French citizens against another country harming them; and being a victim of AO/dioxin.

In May 2013, the Crown Court of Evry city, where Nga resides, accepted her petition against the chemical companies that supplied herbicide for the US army to use in the battlefield in Việt Nam. However, after 19 procedural sessions, in its ruling issued on May 10, 2021, this court accepted the arguments of the defendants, saying they had acted under the order of and for the State of the US and thus, they were entitled to the right to “immunity”.

Lawyers of Nga objected to this ruling and said those companies had submitted a tender, which meant they had not been forced to act. The lawyers perceived that the Evry Crown Court applied out-of-date principles running counter to the modern principles of international law and France.

Not disappointed by that loss, shortly after the Evry Crown Court had ruled that it did not have sufficient competence to handle the case related to the US Government’s acts during wartime, Nga, with support from lawyers and the associations supporting Vietnamese AO victims, filed an appeal to the Paris Court of Appeal.

At a hearing held on May 7 this year, Nga’s lawyers pointed out that there is sufficient evidence proving those companies had voluntarily joined in the bidding and had the right to determine the production as well as content of dioxin in the herbicide supplied for the US army in Việt Nam during 1961-1971. These actions caused catastrophic consequences which still linger until today for people and the environment in Việt Nam.

Nga herself is a dioxin victim and has suffered from very serious consequences, the lawyers said, noting that their client lost her first child, her other children had to endure health problems while she also became cancerous.

They added the right to a trial is a fundamental right of Nga, and they hoped to regain justice for the victim.

For their part, the lawyers defending the 14 US chemical companies denied their clients’ responsibility, arguing that the firms had acted at the request of the US army. Given this, they cited the state immunity that allows a sovereign state not to be prosecuted at a court of another sovereign state so as to deny the companies’ responsibility for the consequences caused by their products in the Vietnamese battlefield.

On one occasion, Nga told VNA correspondents in France that when she began the lawsuit, there were already more than 3 million AO victims in Việt Nam. This figure hurt her heart and prompted her to file the lawsuit. After 12 years of pursuing justice, the figure kept increasing, to over 4 million victims and AO effects have reached the fourth generation.

She stressed that her struggle aims to not only fight against the use of AO but also serve as a basis for other combats for the environment. “I fight not only for myself but also all dioxin victims in Việt Nam and other countries,” Nga said, affirming that she will fight to the bitter end.

During her 15-year journey to seek justice, Nga has received support from not only Vietnamese people in the homeland but also Vietnamese expatriates in France and around the world, as well as French and international friends, including lawyers William Bourdon and Bertrand Repolt, the Việt Nam Association for Victims of AO/dioxin, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, the Vietnamese People Association in France, the France – Việt Nam Friendship Association, the committee for support for Trần Tố Nga’s lawsuit, and Collectif Vietnam Dioxine.

A large number of marches and meetings have also been organised to show solidarity with Nga and Vietnamese AO victims. Nga’s letter to appeal for support for the legal struggle received thousands of signatures, including those of many important figures, politicians, diplomats, researchers, scholars, doctors, and artists.

From 1961 to 1971, the US military conducted 19,905 missions spraying more than 80 million litres of toxic chemicals, 61 per cent of which was AO containing 366kg of dioxin, on nearly 26,000 hamlets and villages that covered 3.06 million hectares, equivalent to almost one-fourth of the area of South Việt Nam.

AO has caused strong and enduring impacts on the environment and human health. About 4.8 million people in Việt Nam were exposed to AO/dioxin, statistics showed. — VNS