RIYADH, 10 August 2007 — In a conservative country like Saudi Arabia where the majority of women cover their faces in public, asking a woman to uncover her face — even for security purposes — would be like delivering a death warrant.
Saudi women, who cover their faces in public in the Kingdom, find themselves compelled to uncover their faces when entering foreign countries, as a standard international procedure to verify their identity. But here in the Kingdom it is a different story due to social restraints.
In fact, many Saudi women tend to cover their photos that are displayed on their security ID cards or even turn their cards backwards when walking in public places such as hospitals.
Perhaps the biggest controversy lies in Saudi women’s photo ID cards, which were first introduced in the Kingdom in 2002 by the Civil Status Departments. Despite being official tools to verify people’s identity, ID cards are not accepted at Saudi courts and other government departments, which refuse to recognize them.
Fraudsters have realized how sensitive the issue of women not showing their faces in public is and have used this to serve their own unlawful purposes of impersonating other women at courts to issue papers of power of attorney.
According to one local report, some SR700 million has been fraudulently gained in the Kingdom in the past several years from women, who have impersonated other women to either issue power of attorney letters for their own use or other issues.
Terrorists have also been known to dress in veils to evade capture at security checkpoints and move from one city to another.
A statement from the Interior Ministry released by the Saudi Press Agency on Sept. 27, 2003, mentioned that when security officers searched the hideout of a group of terrorists in Jizan, they found among other things several abayas (black gowns that cover a woman’s body in public in the Kingdom). Several reports of terrorists being caught wearing abayas have also been published in the national press.
A year after the ID cards were issued, the sensitivities surrounding the issue of women’s photos prevented seven local banks from answering questions from Arab News regarding whether women’s photo ID cards were necessary required documents when opening bank accounts. “You know how sensitive the issue of a woman’s face is here,” one of the PR managers at a bank told Arab News at the time.
Four years later, however, photo ID cards are a must when opening bank accounts.
A source at the Saudi British Bank (SABB) told Arab News that for women even a valid Saudi passport was no longer acceptable. “We only accept photo ID cards... If a woman does not have the new photo ID card then she can bring her family card with her name on it, but a male relative has to testify that she is the same person listed on the card,” said the source.
The source said she had come across cases of women trying to impersonate the identity of other clients by bringing family cards and requesting money transfers from other people’s accounts.
“(One woman) claimed she was one of our clients and brought a family card with her asking for a wired money transfer to another account. But just as the papers were being prepared for release, she was caught when she signed a different signature than the original client,” said the source.
Arab News learned about a woman who once actually fooled a judge by impersonating the identity of another woman to get a power of attorney letter.
The Saudi lady, A.M., had arrived at court fully covered in an abaya and face veil with a family card and two other males to verify her identity. “What is your name?” the judge asked her. “I am so-and so,” she replied. “Do you know this woman?” the judge asked the two male men. “Yes, she is our neighbor and we know her family well.” “Give me your ID cards,” he replied. The judge then noted their details and asked them to sign a paper and then asked them to go to a certain department on the first floor. The power of attorney letter was then issued.
The woman she impersonated was her daughter who was unable to come to Kingdom because of studies abroad. And even though the impersonation was based on good intentions, it illustrates how easy women can impersonate other women in the Kingdom’s courts.
While banks have now made it mandatory for women applicants to have photo ID cards, the cards are still being rejected by judges due to the fact that they contain photographs. Women are often told to bring family cards and two male persons to verify their identities.
One 60-year-old Saudi local, who did not want to be named, told Arab News that when he went to court with his wife the judge refused to accept her photo ID card. “He covered the photo with his thumb, gave it back to me, and said this was not acceptable,” the man said. “When I told him he had no basis to reject it since it was an official card issued by the Interior Ministry he threw me out of his office.”
A Saudi lady, S.M., said that she believes many local people or authorities reject the photo ID card because they believe that a woman who issues such a card is immoral. “They look at us as if we have committed a grave sin,” she said. This is in spite of the fact that Islamic jurisprudence recognizes the permissibility of an official or judge seeing a woman’s face at times necessity, such as for identification purposes. She added that the only bodies that accept the new photo ID cards are banks.
Another Saudi lady said that an outwardly religious man, who writes marriage titles, refused to accept her daughter’s photo ID card on the basis that it had her photo and insisted that she bring a family card instead.
Arab News contacted Sheikh Abdul Muhsin Al-Obaikan, a member of the Shoura Council, a religious scholar, and adviser at the Ministry of Justice, to ask him about the refusal of judges to accept ID cards in courts.
“Religious scholars and students of fiqh (jurisprudence) have stressed that it is permissible for a judge or official to see a woman’s face whenever it is necessary for identification purposes,” he said. He also called for the implementation of a mechanism in the ministry to ensure that women’s rights are protected.
Public Relations Manager at the Ministry of Justice Fahd Al-Bakran denied that judges were refusing women’s photo ID cards. He said that Justice Minister Abdullah Al-Asheikh had written an official letter to justice officials in 2004 calling on them to accept the cards as a means of identification.
In July, Interior Minister Prince Naif answered a question by Arab News on judges’ refusal to accept women’s photo IDs in courts. “We at the ministry accept these cards. You should ask judges why they refuse them,” he said.
Currently, women’s photo ID cards are in the optional stage. Women in the Kingdom are free to possess them without a male guardian’s approval as long as they bring along a valid Saudi passport. However, the majority of government departments continue to refuse to recognize them. Women’s ID cards remain a contentious issue, so controversial that a source from the Interior Ministry refused to discuss with Arab News whether the cards would be made mandatory.
