Belgrade, Serbia: Women in Black-Serbia has joined several other human rights groups in condemning vicious attacks on some participants at the Queer Festival in Belgrade this past weekend, according to Serbian news organizations.

A group of about 20 youths wearing surgical masks and hoods attacked festival participants on September 19, seriously injuring one person, who suffered a broken arm and concussion, and causing minor injuries to several others. The police reacted quickly, arresting one attacker and taking a number of others in for questioning.

In a joint statement, the human rights groups said threats to attack the festival participants had been posted on the websites of some nationalistic organizations a few days prior to the festival, but no action was taken.

Women in Black-Serbia is a partner of The Advocacy Project.

The statement was also signed by the Queeria Center, the Center for Cultural Decontamination, the Humanitarian Law Center, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights and the YUCOM Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights.

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