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Summary:
Use of Agent Orange in Vietnam more than half a century ago, has been subiect of several studies and surveys the harmful effects of this and many other toxic substances with fairly complete and accurate data on the Agent range victims in Vietnam who had sued the US side who still refuses to recognize its accountability for the crimes at it has caused. Therefore, this writing will not discuss more about the technical aspects but just want to clarity he following issues:
- Legality: The US has violated international conventions.
- Morality: It has gone against our human values.
- Culprits: The US Government and US military.
- Accomplices: The US chemical companies.
We hope that from those conferences like this one, those who know about poisons, understand international laws and conscientious people throughout the world, especially in the US, would likely demonstrate the same outlook as our on the crime named \"Agent Orange/dioxin\".
Introduction:
The workshop is intended to create a chance for more exchanges, and new publicity on the results of scientific researches on the harmful effects of Agent Orange used by the US during the war in Vietnam and it claimed that many \"unknowns\" are still existing around this matter. In fact, during more than half a century, a lot of work has provided quite adequate data on the specific impacts on several aspects caused by the US Agent Orange.
In 1999, the National Committee for Investigating Consequences of Toxic Chemicals Used in Vietnam War published a large format book, with 100 pages, including figures and clearly drawn maps of each sprayed region, each type of chemical used and respective poisoning density in South Vietnam. Therefore, the so called \"unknowns\" of the problem lie not in the technical elements and specific harmful effects but in the US manner in refusing its responsibility. Therefore, this writing wants to clarify the legal aspect, ethical aspect, who are perpetrators and accomplices of a crime that the whole world condemned - with a hope that more people will take side with the Agent orange victims who are suffering from physical pain and mental disabilities as a result of Agent Orange/dioxin and being unfairly treated by the US Government. The following are specific issues:
1/ Legally: The US Government and its military have in fact violated international conventions on the use of poisons in war.
In a successful international seminar held in March 2002 in Hanoi with the attendance of 280 Vietnamese scientists and 120 foreign ones from 19 countries, including from the United States. The seminar\'s delegates then reiterated the \"1907 Hague Convention\" that banned the use of poisons and poisoned weapons.\" Later, in an international conference held in Geneva, this convention was supplemented further that the use of all poisoned liquids, powders and gases are completely banned. By 1969, in its resolution, the UN General Assembly stated that the Geneva Conventions should be applied to all chemicals used as weapons of war\". Thus, the international community has repeatedly affirmed the use of toxic chemicals in war is a violation of international conventions that the United States also bearits signatures therein.
In view of international laws, when a party, while knowing well about their harmful effects and their prohibition, still try to use them, willfully violating international conventions, it must be charged with a serious crime. But so far, the US Government, despite its decision to extend certain efforts in working on decontamination still manages evade any responsibility for its victims and there hasn\'t been any international court that judge its crimes.Hence, harmful effects of Agent Orange no longer constitute a mystery, but its treatment is still an \"unknown”.
2/ Morally: the US Government and its military have trampled upon the moral values of humaity.
In Vietnam War, the US had sprayed in South Vietnam from 1961 to 1972 about 20 million gallons of toxins, contaminating about 17 million hectares, equal to 27% of South Vietnam\'s territory and covering most of the basing large rivers from 17th parallel to the Mekong delta. In fact the total contaminated area must be larger than an area of 27% territory because the toxins could widely spread through water currents.
According to studies conducted by international scientists, the effects of poisons used by the US in Vietnam have caused poisoning syndrome to about 2.1 to 4.8 million people, mostly civilians, and revolutionary armed forces. In areas sprayed with Agent Orange, the number of children born with deformities 3 times greater than that of non- sprayed areas.
Not only in Vietnam, but almost the entire world public opinion, including that in the United States have accordingly condemned this so -called Agent Orange crime. We may cite some significant events: The International Court led by a British philosopher, Bertrand Russel held two hearings in 1967 for US war crimes, including its use of chemicals, committed in Vietnam. Certain US lawmakers and scientists of famous universities in the United States wrote to the US President to protest the use of poison in Vietnam. In addition, a number of other international organizations also voiced opposition to US war crimes.
If the US Government acknowledged the harmful effects of Agent Orange dioxin on the health of people of the sprayers and the need for providing health care policies, compensation for their damage, why would they do not do so for victims of Agent orange in Vietnam, the sprayed? Why could the US Government trample on the moral value of humanity and the values of human rights and democracy that the United States has so much often praised? That is also an \"unknown\" element located in the field of ethics.
In short, from the moral point of view, the US Government and its troops had committed genocide similar to what they committed in Japan and to what the Japanese fascists committed in Vietnam during the World War II. Vietnamese people never want to beg morality from the invaders but resolutely condemn their crimes and resolutely demand justice for victims of Agent Orange.
3/ Concerningculprits of war crimes: No one else other than the US Government and its military forces should be pointed out.
In view of laws, a culprit at least must have the following elements: First, he had to be the mastermind of purposeful action. Secondly, he must be the one who pays all the costs of committing crime. Third, he must be the one who is responsible for the crime\'s organization, examination, supervision, provision of facilities and supplies for comitting it. Under the light of these three basic elements, it is enough to say that the US Government and its forces are qualified for being condemned as its \"culprits.\" The evidences show that:
On the role of the masterminds: By 1961, the US was conducting a strategy named \"special war\" in Vietham with a large amount of military advisers, weapons and new military equipment. At that time, a number of US military advisors then proposed a new, that is, the use of toxic defoliants in areas suspected to be the hiding places of Vietnamese communist guerrillas. In August 1961, the US pilots began directly instructing Saigonese pilots how to spray toxic chemicals. Just then, a number of US lawmakers warned about the legality of this action and hence the US President decided to issue a directive that required the limited use of these chemicals. But in fact, by the end of 1961, the US military already decided to enhance the use of poisons on a broader scale and in 1962, they sent US pilots to Vietnam to directly fly the spraying missions. A US soldier who was once commissioned to conduct sprayings recounted that \"the Americans used C-123s as specialized crafts for spraying missions, each of which could carry 3.800 liters of Agent Orange. It took an aircraft just 3 minutes to spread out the toxins over an area of 140 hectares. Each C-123 flight would be escorted by a group of 2 F-4 fighters\". Thus, the US military forces were another mastermind of the use of these toxic chemicals with a very clear purpose that was to destroy their opposing forces and to protect their US troops.
On the cost of spraying toxins: Purchases of toxic chemicals, their transportation costs, storage costs and specialized crafts were all taken from the US military budget, approved by the US Government. The US chemical companies did not finance these costs.
All aspects, such as planning, selection of targets, provision of poisons, provision of spraying and covering planes, were shared by the US military forces rignt from the early days and then were taken fully and completely into their hands later.
In short, we have had all the elements eough to conclude: The US Government and its military are the actual culprits of the crime related to the spreading of toxic chemicals in South Vietnam.
4/ On the role of accomplices
The US chemical companies, the manufacturers of various kinds of Agent Orange/dioxin have so far justified that they only sole them to the US Government and its military, that they were not directly spraying them in Vietnam, and that they are not subject to hold any direct responsibility. However, such a justification was only valid during the early period of sprayings before the American and world public opinion could cite in a specific manner that the effects of Agent Orange/dioxin did imperil the environments and human health in Vietnam and that the chemical companies had known well these bad consequences long before supplying them to the US troops. In view of laws, those accomplices who provide the means for mass murderers without any warning or protest, while knowing well that this act constitutes a war crime as in the case related to US chemical companies supplying chemicals used in Vietnam, should be considered as accomplices and must bear some responsibility for this crime.
Conclusion:
If all these 4 aspects are together considered: legal aspect, moral aspect, culpritsaspect and accomplices\' aspect of the so-called Agent Orange crime, we can see that it was derived from the United States. Therefore, the rules for determining who are responsible for it are its internal matter. For the victims of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam, under the international laws, the person who must answer to justice is the US Government, if they still respect human values on human rights, democracy and morality.
Tran Ngoc Tho (Ho Chi Minh City Association for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin)
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