|
A rally was organised at Trocadero Square in Paris on October 1 to support the Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO) victims, who have filed a lawsuit against 37 American chemical companies that produced AO/dioxin for use during the war in Vietnam.
The rally, organized by the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV), was attended by overseas Vietnamese and friends and people in France. "This is the first in a series of activities in support of the Vietnamese AO victims in France," the organiser said.
Addressing the function, war activist Henri Martin and famous French reporter Madeleine Riffaud pointed out the heavy consequences left over from the US-launched war in Vietnam, especially the serious effects of the defoliant chemical substance known as Agent Orange/dioxin, which was sprayed onto southern Vietnam between 1960-1971.
Three million Vietnamese continue to suffer the effects of AO/dioxin used by the US during the American war. Agent Orange has caused birth defects in hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese children in the second and third generations of descendants of those who were exposed to the toxin decades ago, they stressed.
The speakers also praised the Vietnamese government's enormous efforts to help the victims. They also called for worldwide support for the Vietnamese AO victims, especially for their lawsuit against US chemical producers.
Michel Thouzeau from the Peace Movement in France read the statement, highlighting the movement's determination to intensify its activities to demand justice for the Vietnamese victims and compensation from the US.
On the same day, rallies were also held in other five cities of France, namely Le Rochelle, Nimes, Toulouse, Beziers, and Alberville under the joint auspice of the AAFV, the Peace Movement, the Overseas Vietnamese Association in France (UGVF), the Vietnam-Dioxin Committee, the Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society, the Switzerland-Vietnam Friendship Association, and other organizations
Nhan Dan - (03/10/2005)
|
