Birth certificates asked for

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 October 1998, 10:37 GMT]
Sri Lankan security forces personnel manning check posts in the Colombo have asked some Tamils to produce their birth certificates along with their National Identity (NI) cards during road checks, said human rights sources in Colombo.

The sources said such actions violate the regulations announced by the Sri Lankan Attorney General about identity documents.

The Attorney General said earlier that members of the public will not be asked to produce any identification documents other than their NI cards.

The sources said that one woman travelling with her 3 children in a bus was not allowed to proceed as she had failed to carry her birth certificate with her.

However, they were allowed through after length protestations to the security forces manning the check post.