ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) has asked President Gen Pervez Musharraf to order the release of all children held under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), 1901, in the tribal areas and also extend the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance to FATA and Azad Kashmir.

The demand was made in a letter dispatched by Sparc's national coordinator Anees Jillani to President Musharraf here on Friday. In his letter, Mr Jillani had observed that there were more than 70 children languishing in various jails in the NWFP under FCR for crimes allegedly committed by their family members.

Some of the detained children included girls as young as two or three years of age. Mr Jillani has termed the arrest and awarding of punishment to children by various political agents of the tribal areas unfair and against all norms of justice.

He asked the president to immediately intervene in this regard and get all children released before Eid. "Clear instructions should be issued that no child should be kept in jails under the FCR in future, and that they should never be detained for crimes (allegedly) committed by their families," Mr Jillani said.

He also requested that the maximum number of inmates below the age of 18 should be released from all jails. Mr Jillani also demanded establishment of exclusive juvenile courts throughout the country. Besides, the prohibition system should be extensively used to get children released.