East London News: For months East Londonpeace campaigner Len Aldis has led the campaign against the Dow Chemical company being accepted as a sponsor of the Olympic Games. Now his campaign has been validated by the Vietnamese Government. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Mr Hoang Tuan Anh has written to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) calling on them to reconsider permitting Dow Chemical’s role in the 2012 Games. The Minister’s letter, printed below, explains why his Government is taking a stand against this company.
The effects of Dow Chemical’s “agent orange” in Vietnam did not end with US intervention in that country. As if to underline how the effects of “agent orange” continue to be felt, shortly after the Bank Holiday Len Aldis is speaking at the Hanoi Medical University international conference on Birth Defects, where he will be speaking on Agent Orange and the consequences it has had on the people of Vietnam.
For more information about Len Aldis’s campaigns, visit www.lenaldis.co.uk.
(Official translation)
International Olympic Committee (IOC) Chateau de Vidy, 1001Lausanne,Switzerland Fax: +41 21 621 6216
Ha Noi, 2 May 2012
Dear Mr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee and other members of the Executive Board,
First of all, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, I would like to extend the best compliments to Mr. President and other members of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee.
It is with regret that I have to express profound concerns of the Government and people ofViet Namabout the decision of IOC to accept the Dow Chemical Company as a global partner sponsoring the Olympic Movement from now to 2020.
The Dow Chemical Company is one of the major producers of the Agent Orange, which have been used by the US Army with the amount of 80 millions litres to spray over villages in the South of Viet Nam over 10 years, from 1961 to 1971, destroying the environment, claiming the lives of millions of Vietnamese people and leaving terrible effects on millions of others, who are now suffering from incurable diseases and some hundreds of thousands of children of the fourth generation were born with severe congenital deformities. What is worth condemning is the fact that, despite of international opinions, Dow Chemical expressed their indifference and refused compensation for victims of the Agent Orange produced by the company, as well as their responsibility to clean up contaminated areas. Spending zero effort to recover their mistakes in the past, Dow continues to destroy the current living environment. In 2010, US Environmental Protection Agency listed Dow as the second worst polluter in the world.
Since the ultimate goals of the Olympic Movement are to promote good health, equality and progress of the mankind, we think that the acceptance of IOC for Dow sponsorship is a hasty decision. Therefore, we call upon IOC to reconsider your decision and stand up for millions of Agent Orange victims inViet Namand over the world, asking Dow Chemical to fulfill their responsibilities for victims of the Agent Orange and spend the adequate financial resources to solve these problems, only by then they could be eligible to sponsor the Olympic Games.
On this occasion, I would like to reaffirm our support and commitment ofViet Namto activities of the Olympic Movement in general and the Olympics/ Paralympics in particular. The sports delegation ofViet Namwould try their best in the spirits of sportsmanship to contribute to the success of the Olympic Games.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed by)
Hoang Tuan Anh Minister
Copies to: – The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – Vietnam National Olympic Committee