PESHAWAR, June 9: The NWFP government has been requested to release 24 women and children of the family of an alleged "criminal" given collective detention as punishment in Haripur central prison under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) , a local NGO which made the request said on Wednesday.

The Deputy National Coordinator of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc), Arshad Mahmood, has sent a letter to Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah stating his concern over the illegal detention of the 24 children and women, of an alleged criminal's family under the FCR. Children as young as six months to four years are under detention, which is sad, the letter added.

These women and children were arrested in the vicinity of Tajori Police Station in Lakki Marwat District of NWFP and were shifted to Miramshah, North Waziristan Agency so that the jurisdiction of ordinary courts could not be extended to their case.

The assistant political agent North Waziristan sentenced them to three years imprisonment under the Collective Responsibility clause of the FCR. Mr Mahmood stated that three male children, Waseel, son of Arsal Khan aged seven years, Mohammad Siddique, son of Qadir Khan, age six years and Abdul Malik, son of Haji Angoor Khan, aged 10 years were also in the prison with their mothers, young sisters, aunts and one grandmother.

"The detention of these women and children is against all norms of humanity and civilised society, and all national and international laws including the constitution of Pakistan," he added.

Different agencies responsible for law and order had failed to perform their duties and had now started targeting innocent civilians to bargain with the outlaws. "What is the difference between an outlaw kidnapping innocent people for ransom and the governmental agencies kidnapping and detaining innocent women and children for their release?" Mr Mahmood asked.