Black Diplomat Attacked in Ukraine

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Black Diplomat Attacked in Ukraine

Tue Mar 1,10:55 AM ET Europe - AP



KIEV, Ukraine - An American diplomat said Tuesday he was attacked and severely beaten by a group of skinheads in the Ukrainian capital because he was black.



Robert Simmons, serving at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Uzbekistan, was attacked Saturday night by what he described as a well-organized group of more than a dozen skinheads wearing combat boots.


"I was attacked because I am African-American. They did not touch my friends who were there with me but were not black," Simmons told The Associated Press in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.


"They beat me in turns, it looked like training for them," Simmons said.


Police did not appear until after the beating, Simmons said. The U.S. Embassy said it would push Ukrainian authorities to find those responsible.


Such attacks are not common in Ukraine, but a November warning posted on the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Kiev warned Americans of "reports of racially motivated incidents against non-Caucasian foreigners, including American citizens of African and Asian descent."


"In addition to incidents of assault, persons of African or Asian heritage may be subject to various types of harassment, such as being stopped on the street by both civilians and law enforcement officials," the message said.