Open Letter to the United States Supreme Court over Monsanto, Dow and Agent Orange

Letter is addressed in particular to Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Stevens and Justice Thomas.

U.S. Supreme Court Photo courtesy: Wikipedia

(HANOI, Vietnam) - A year ago, March 2009, your court denied the appeal of behalf of over three million Vietnamese seriously affected from the effects of the herbicide Agent Orange, by so doing you found in favour of the thirty-seven American chemical companies headed by two of the major ones, namely MONSANTO and DOW CHEMICALS who had manufactured Agent Orange.

Your court also denied the appeal of American Veterans affected by Agent Orange. This outrageous denial became more obnoxious as no reason was given by the seven, yes seven justices who presided over the appeal.

The victims of Agent Orange, for this is what they are VICTIMS, of all ages, from babies to pensioners who are suffering from various illnesses and severe disabilities that are painful to see, let alone bearing the pain itself, The Vietnamese and American Veterans are suffering from the same effects caused by Agent Orange, let me give you just one example, a Vietnamese teenager with Spina Bifida is the same as an American teenager whose father served in Vietnam. Yet by your actions you denied justice to both.

Agent Orange has no end, in Vietnam it has travelled into the third generation of the victims and will soon, if not already, enter into the fourth generation, how many more generations must go through this suffering before Justice is served?

The US Supreme Court has nine Justices, the Chief Justice and eight others, they are there for life. So WHY was it left to seven to preside over these appeals? No reasons were offered to the court or to the victims.

Yet here was an appeal involving millions of Vietnamese and hundreds of thousands of Americans and YOU Chief Justice Roberts and YOU Justice Stevens decide to sit this one out. Shame on you both.

But what of Justice Thomas? He was the one Justice that should have stood down from the appeal hearing. He had good personal reasons to do so. As a lawyer, he had worked for over two years for MONSANTO in their Pesticide and Agriculture Department. Justice Thomas, that was a clear case of a conflict of interest - and I’m not a lawyer.

The rejection of the appeal by the Supreme Court cannot be allowed to stop the Justice that all victims of Agent Orange deserve. Despite the rejection the campaign must, and will continue. The American Government, Monsanto, Dow Chemicals and the others who are guilty of the use of Agent Orange on Vietnam, must accept their responsibility - even though the supreme court failed to accept theirs.

We will continue to seek justice and for compensation to be paid to all the victims and to their families, for it is the families that have to face and deal with the day to day consequences of the suffering of their sons and daughters affected by Agent Orange.

Len Aldis. Secretary

Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society

Len Aldis. Secretary
Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society
Flat 2, 26 Tomlins Grove
London E3 4NX
Tel & Fax: 0208 980 7146
Mobile: 0779 657 1017
Website: lenaldis.co.uk
Skype: Len.Aldis

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