CHAPTER 5 CHILDREN IN PRISONS “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones”. Nelson Mandela Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Children who were arrested were placed in police custody, but were then released by courts at initial appearance. A 16-year-old boy was detained at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison for 10 days after his initial appearance at Rotten Row Court, and 14 children were detained at Khami Prison in Bulawayo pending production of birth certificates in court. At Chikurubi, lawyers who visited the prison to see the child who was detained there were wrongly informed by prison officials that the child had been released, barring him access to legal representation. Some prisons have no specific cells for child offenders, and children are mixed with adults. The conditions in prisons are not suitable and desirable for children. Categories of children in prisons are either children in prison pending trials, awaiting sentence or children serving sentences. The best interests of the child remain the paramount consideration in dealing with children in prisons. Following the #Shutdown protests in January 2019, children who had been arrested were placed in police custody upon arrest, and most were then released by courts at initial appearance. However, one case was recorded in which a 16-year-old boy was detained at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison after his initial appearance at Rotten Row Court. He had been arrested on 15 January 2019 and was released from prison on 25 January 2019. In Bulawayo, 14 children aged between 16 and 17 years were detained at Khami Prison after initial appearance for the reason that they could not produce birth certificates in court as proof of their minority. The children were released into the custody of their guardians once birth certificates were produced in court. There is a young offenders prison called Whawha Young Offenders Prison in Gweru that houses young male inmates under the ages of 21 years. However, no children charged with public violence were sent to that prison either pre- or post-trial. 28 ‘Hear them Cry ’ – An Analysis of State Violence Against Children During the January 2019 Protests