On May 5-6 2009 IADL convened in Paris (France) an International People’s Tribunal of Conscience in support of the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange.
The Tribunal found:
I. that the United States Government is guilty of the offenses listed above and determines that the damage to the environment of Vietnam can be defined as “ecocide”;
II. that the Chemical companies who were charged in the summons and complaint are guilty of complicity in the offenses listed above; and
III. that the United States Government and the Chemical companies which manufactured and supplied Agent Orange must fully compensate the victims of Agent Orange and their families. The U.S. Government and the Chemical companies must also repair the environment to remove the contamination of Dioxin from the soil and the waters,
and especially from the “Hot Spots” around former U.S. military bases.
To complete the above task of compensation and repair, the Tribunal recommends that the Agent Orange Commission be established in Vietnam to assess the amount of compensation to be allocated to each victim, family group, and community.
The Agent Orange Commission will also determine the amount necessary to provide specialized medical facilities, and rehabilitation and other therapeutic services to the victims and their families.
The Agent Orange Commission will also estimate the costs of the necessary studies of contaminated areas and the cost of environmental repair in the future.
The Agent Orange Commission will also determine the amount to be paid to the State of Vietnam to indemnify it for monies it has expended to support the victims and repair the environment.
The Tribunal urges the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to forthwith constitute such Agent Orange Commission of people of eminence in the fields of medicine, science, engineering, law, epidemiology, agriculture, toxicology, ecology, public administration, and representatives of civil society. The Agent Orange Commission shall make its recommendations within one year of its constitution.
Once the Agent Orange Commission has established the requisite amounts, those monies shall be paid by the United States Government and the Chemical companies
jointly and severally to a trust fund specially created for present and future victims and their families, and repair of the environment. The amount of $1.52 billion a year being paid by the United States Government to the U.S. Vietnam veteran victims of Agent Orange can be employed as a guide for the calculations performed by the Agent Orange Commission.
That the Agent Orange Commission be funded jointly by the United States Government and the Chemical Companies. A down payment on the compensation must begin immediately as there is no time to waste in beginning to provide the Vietnamese victims with the compensation and remediation of their environment to which they are entitled.
The full report on the proceedings can be downloaded here
Download PDF: Judgment Agent Orange Tribunal.pdf (2.49 MB)