2.1 Children in conflict with the Law and in Detention in Zimbabwe Children in conflict with the law, or in contact with the law, refers to children who are accused or found guilty of committing criminal offences. The criminal justice system for dealing with such children is referred to as the juvenile justice system or child justice system. Generally, juvenile justice and detention is a little studied area in Zimbabwe. In most cases, these areas are covered as part of broader researches and academic work. For instance, the Zimbabwe Child Law Monitor of 2016 highlights some gaps in the law when it comes to detention of juveniles. The report on Pre-Trial Detention in Zimbabwe done in 2013 by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) which analyses the criminal justice system and pre-trial detention conditions in Zimbabwe is perhaps the most focused study on detention in Zimbabwe, albeit it focuses on pre-trial detention. In that study the law of juvenile justice is briefly addressed, and more pertinently, some experiences of juvenile detainees in police custody are covered. Experiences of children being beaten in police cells by the police are highlighted. At the time (2013) the report also placed the percentage of juvenile prisoners (under 18s) to the entire prison population of 16, 902 at 0.7%. Yet another piece of work “Contributing to Legal Aid for Detained Juveniles in Zimbabwe Project Plan” of June 2012 by the Lawyers Without Borders Dutch Project Group Zimbabwe, recorded as at 2010 that “According to recent government sources, there are around 300 children in prison and many of them were not represented by a lawyer or supported by a probation officer during their trial and have not had their case reviewed since entering detention”. There is however a significant body of global work on juvenile justice, including judicial decisions, which help shape best-practice and inform a local analysis and development of recommendations. 2.2 International and National Legal Framework Zimbabwe has ratified both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), which both provide a global standard insofar as the treatment of children in conflict with the law is concerned – including issues of detention. These human rights treaties impose a legal obligation upon Zimbabwe to align its laws to the international legal framework governing juvenile justice. The UNCRC specifically calls upon States “to promote the establishment of laws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children alleged as, accused of, or recognised as having infringed the penal law.” 4 The UNCRC and the ACRWC require special procedures in the trial of children, and a regime of reformative and rehabilitative sentencing as opposed to retributive and punitive sentencing. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Administration of Juvenile Justice (popularly known as the Beijing Rules) augment the national child justice system. The Beijing rules outline how children who interface with the criminal justice system should be treated. These rules were recently given extensive reference to by the Constitutional Court in its judgment outlawing judicial corporal punishment for boys in S v Chokuramba CCZ 10-19. The Constitution along with the applicable legal framework together significantly accord to the minimum standard stipulated in the Beijing rules. Insofar as arrest, detention and treatment of children in the child justice system are concerned, the Constitution entitles children to protections generally afforded to everyone in the criminal justice system. In addition, children are entitled to specific protections addressing their peculiar vulnerabilities, from the moment they are arrested until they exit the c r i m i n a l j u s t i c e s y s t e m . Fo r instance, a child is entitled to prompt and direct information of the charges in a language that he understands so that he can answer it.5 The child is also entitled to an 4. Article 41(3) of the UNCRC. 5. Article 40 (2)(b)(ii) of the UNCRC; Article 17(2)(ii) of the ACRWC; section 70(1) (b) of the Constitution. 9 ‘Hear them Cry ’ – An Analysis of State Violence Against Children During the January 2019 Protests