World Youth Festival Ends

Pretoria, Dec 21. -The 17th World Festival of Youth and Students concludes Tuesday in South Africa after an intense series of discussions, presentations and workshops. The festival brought together 15,000 delegates from 140 countries under the slogan "Let´s defeat imperialism for a world of peace, solidarity and social transformation."

The program for the final day includes a pro-peace march from Church Plaza to national government offices and performances by several artists such as Big Nuz, Profesor, Tira, Fisherman, 999 Stable, TS Records, and Kalawa Jazmee, organizers said.

On Monday, the Anti-Imperialist Tribunal of the Festival, which began its hearings on December 13, found imperialism guilty of multiple crimes against humanity.

The sentencing took into consideration all of the evidence presented by delegates from different countries who met for two days at the Tshwane Conference Center.

The judges of the tribunal denounced imperialist atrocities like war, deaths, blockades, pandemics, military and biological aggression, torture, the exploitation of workers, and military coups.

The imperialist system also was condemned for damaging the environment, plundering natural resources in other countries, and its alliances with national oligarchies to destroy social processes of change.

The tribunal has no legal effect, but it has moral authority, and participants at the forum are committed to fighting imperialism, said Socorro Gomez, president of the World Peace Council. (Prensa Latina)