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Opinion

Coward, Irresponsible and Unacceptable

With its ruling, the French court of Evry refused to recognize the legitimate demands and rights of its citizen on truth and justice.

The ruling of the French court of Evry that it did not have the jurisdiction to judge the lawsuit against Mosanto and other former Agent Orange manufacturers brought by Mrs Tran To Nga, one of many victims of the toxic defoliant used by American soldiers during their aggression war in Vietnam is cynical. It is coward, irresponsible and unacceptable.

It is a shame to the French justiciar as a whole.

 Tran To Nga (on the right). Photo: VNA


By following the reasoning of the companies, this French court deliberately denied facts and truths about the true nature of the case. The only truth was, has been and is these companies served the US governments to carry out aggression war in Vietnam and thus committed crimes in Vietnam and against Vietnamese peoples and ecological environment. France and its governments and justiciar knew and know it.

They all are aware of the fact that military veterans from the US, Australia and South Korea all already demanded and won compensation for the after-effects of Agent Orange. But the French court thrown out the same lawsuit, brought forward by a French woman of Vietnamese origin. The real reason is it fears that a verdict in favor of a Vietnamese victim would have set a precedent, namely a precedent which would be very uncomfortable for both American and French justiciar as well as for both America's and France's governments.

 

With its ruling, the French court of Evry refused to recognize the legitimate demands and rights of its citizen on truth, justice and compensation against not foreign governments but companies who are responsible for its citizen's lingering sufferings. A court which hasn't been able to find out the truth or has deliberately been neglecting the truth can never come to verdicts deserving to be considered as justice.

 

With its ruling and disguised under following the reasoning of related companies, this French court tried to justify the US aggression war in Vietnam and against the Vietnamese people as acts to defend US interests and thus definitely neglected all war crimes the US administrations and war machineries had committed against the Vietnamese people.

This court seems to forget or tries to forget that like the US, the French colonialist also committed war crimes against the Vietnamese people. Time flies but political, legal and moral responsibilities for those crimes in the past still remain. Any court ruling can in no way change the historical truth.

 

Disclaimer: The views expressed by Ambassador Tran Duc Mau are of his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hanoitimes.

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