Formal Notice: NATO Partner Complicity in Chemical War Legacy Harm (TCDD / Agent Orange)

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Subject: Formal Notice: NATO Partner Complicity in Chemical War Legacy Harm (TCDD / Agent Orange)

8/6/2025

To the NATO Office of Legal Affairs,

This letter serves as formal notification to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that one of its Enhanced Opportunities Partners, the Commonwealth of Australia, has breached international humanitarian and civilian protection obligations through its denial and suppression of harm linked to the Vietnam War-era chemical TCDD (Agent Orange).

My name is Danielle Stevens. I am the daughter of a Vietnam War veteran who served in one of the most heavily sprayed regions during the conflict. I was born shortly after his return and have lived with lifelong and visible medical conditions now directly linked to dioxin (TCDD) exposure. These include congenital abnormalities, systemic degeneration, reproductive damage, and neurological conditions. The scientific evidence is consistent with international findings, including the World Health Organization and Stockholm Convention classifications.

Despite this, Australia has refused to acknowledge second-generation harm, denied civilian descendants access to screening or compensation, and continues to ignore its obligations under:

• The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants,

• The Convention on the Rights of the Child,

• The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and

• Basic principles of medical ethics and international humanitarian law.

Australia remains a formal Enhanced Opportunities Partner of NATO. This status requires compliance with alliance-aligned principles of legality, civilian protection, military responsibility, and environmental accountability. The failure to respond to known chemical harm caused by wartime operations — especially when supported by military records and ongoing medical documentation — represents a direct violation of these shared commitments.

I have filed a formal complaint with the International Criminal Court under Article 15 of the Rome Statute. I have also notified the United Nations, the OECD, and national contact points in multiple countries. In recent weeks, my website documenting this evidence has received visits from The Hague, Brussels, and Uccle — indicating international attention to this case is growing rapidly.

NATO is now formally on notice. From this point forward, silence will constitute complicity by omission. This matter is no longer limited to Australia’s domestic conduct — it has become a test of alliance integrity, and whether NATO will uphold the principles it expects from others.

I request that this letter be formally acknowledged and referred to the Office of Legal Affairs and any relevant bodies responsible for reviewing alliance partner conduct under humanitarian, ethical, and legal frameworks.