Exhibition highlights AO/dioxin pain, lawsuit

An exhibition named “AO/dioxin lawsuit - one plaintiff, millions of victims” is being held by the Tre (Youth) Publishing House, Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper and Duong Sach Co., Ltd. in Ho Chi Minh City, and is taking place on Nguyen Van Binh Book Street, Ho Chi Minh City from May 8 to 13.

At the event
At the event

The exhibition is highlighting the pain of Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims and the lawsuit filed by Tran To Nga, a Vietnamese French woman, against multinational companies for producing and selling the chemical toxins sprayed by US forces during the war in Vietnam.

On display are over 100 documents, photos and illustrations selected from newspapers, witnesses, researches, and the War Remnants Museum, which depict information and statistics on the long-term effects of AO/dioxin on humans, nature, and the environment.

Many images help visitors understand more about the AO herbicide containing toxic dioxin, which has visited devastating consequences on millions of Vietnamese.

Many photos and documents also describe the progress of the lawsuit, legal and scientific foundations, the companionship and support of friends around the world, and the struggle of AO victims in the lawsuit.

The organisers said that visitors can scan QR codes on each document and image at the exhibition to get more information from the archives, thus helping them better understand both the chemical itself and the lawsuit.

Tran To Nga filed the lawsuit in 2014. Among the companies named in her suit, there are such names as Monsanto (now under the Bayer Group of Germany) and Dow Chemical.

With the support of several non-governmental organisations, Nga accused the companies of causing lasting harm to the her health, that of her children and countless others, as well as environment destruction.

Among her three children, the first died of heart defects and the second suffers from a blood disease.

The French court is expected to rule on the lawsuit on May 10.