By AFP
Published May 10, 2021
French court dismisses case over Agent Orange use in Vietnam War
Ornella LAMBERTI
A French court on Monday dismissed a case by an elderly French-Vietnamese woman against several agrochemical companies, including Monsanto and Dow Chemical, over the use by the US military of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
The court in the Paris suburb of Evry ruled that it did not have the jurisdiction to judge a case involving the wartime actions of the US government, according to the ruling seen by AFP.
Tran To Nga, who was born in 1942 in what was then French Indochina, accused the chemicals firms of causing grievous harm to her and others by selling Agent Orange to the US government, which used the toxic chemical to devastating effect in the war.
The 79-year-old complainant, who covered the 1955-1975 war as a reporter, also accused the companies of causing damage to the environment.
Dismissing the case, the court backed the companies’ contention that they were acting “on the orders” of the US government, which was engaged in a “sovereign act”.
Campaign groups estimate that four million people in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were exposed to the 76 million litres (20 million gallons) of Agent Orange sprayed by US forces to destroy ground cover and food sources in its battle with communist North Vietnamese troops between 1962 and 1971.
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