Warden Message

April 21, 2005

Warden Message - Rise in Personal Assaults on Foreigners in Ulaanbaatar

The American Embassy has been receiving an increasing number of reports of
criminal attacks on American citizens and other foreigners in Ulaanbaatar.
A Peace Corps volunteer was robbed outside of the UB Guesthouse on March
29th by three men, and an American citizen working on a USAID contract was
attacked on the evening of April 1st in front of his office one block from
the State Department Store by five men.  In both cases the victims were
choked and then robbed.

We were also informed of an attack on a female Australian citizen on April
13th.  The victim was choked and robbed in her apartment near the State
Department Store by three young women.  Also on April 13th, an American
citizen was the victim of an attempted mugging outside her apartment near
the circus.  Another American citizen had her purse stolen on the same day.
It was also reported to us that a Dutch citizen was attacked and robbed by a
group of men in late March.  One week earlier, a Swiss citizen was choked
and robbed by two men in the stairwell of his apartment building located
behind the State Department Store.  An American citizen was choked and
robbed near the Turkish Embassy soon after arriving in Ulaanbaatar from
Seoul on March 15.  In this case, police apprehended the perpetrators.

It appears that these groups, mostly using the same choking and robbing
techniques, are deliberately targeting foreigners in and around the
neighborhood of the State Department Store.  The Embassy has requested the
assistance of the Mongolian National Police in stepping up their crime
prevention efforts in this area.  We advise American citizens to be alert
when walking alone in downtown Ulaanbaatar and to avoid groups of loitering
men or women.