This episode brought into focus the administration of justice in Zimbabwe, with children being a specific interest group. On account of the particular vulnerability of children, juvenile justice is a special area of criminal law, and Zimbabwe has special protections in its law that seek to protect juveniles, and such protections provide for processes to be followed where children are accused of contravening the law or found to be in conflict with the law. For instance, the Constitution, the Children’s Act [Chapter 5:06] and the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Chapter 9:07] all provide for mechanisms to ensure that the best interests of the child are upheld at all times when dealing with children in conflict with the law. Times of conflict however bring peculiar dimensions, and mass violations of human rights have been known to occur. 1.2 Purpose and Scope of the Report and Methodology This report is the outcome of a study commissioned by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and it examines how children were protected in the criminal justice system in Zimbabwe in the aftermath of the January 2019 protests. It seeks to serve as an informative and advocacy tool that will feed into law reform advocacy, and the possible development of a policy on children who interface with the criminal justice system in Zimbabwe especially in times of conflict. The report and its expected uses are meant to aid the full protection of children in terms of the constitutional protections in the country, as well as to ensure implementation of the standards and norms encapsulated in key international law instruments to which Zimbabwe is a state party, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). The report looks at when, why and how children were arrested and detained, how they were processed through the criminal justice system (due process), who was involved in the process and how, protection of substantive and procedural rights, violations that occurred, who was responsible for the violations, and recommendations for reform. This report is a product of a multi-methodical approach, with data gathered through both primary and secondary data collection methods. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed, including through an assessment of existing reports covering the period under review. 1.3 Background and Context Within a period of six months, Zimbabwe was rocked with at least two episodes of conflict, which are both significant events within independent Zimbabwe, and within the so-called new dispensation from November 2017. On 1 August 2018, supporters of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance party led demonstrations in Harare over delayed announcement of Presidential election results by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), resulting in seven (7) people being shot dead by members of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). In the aftermath was a crackdown that led to about 40 arrests, with most charged with public violence. In January 2019, widespread protests in the major cities of the country erupted following an announcement by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on 12 January 2019 that fuel prices were increased by 150% with immediate effect. Within the context of an economic meltdown and deepening poverty, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) along with social movements such as #ThisFlag called for a nationwide three-day stay away on the 14th to 16th of January 2019. What followed was a three-day period of anarchy and protests in major cities and towns across the country. The stay away which was supposed to be peaceful as the organisers intended resulted into violent clashes between State security and civilians. Streets were barricaded with huge boulders and burning tyres in the high-density areas and Central Business Districts (CBDs) in Harare, Bulawayo and other major cities. In Mutare this obtained in places such as Sakubva, Chikanga, Dangamvura and Hobhouse. Shops, especially in high density suburbs in Harare, Chitungwiza and Bulawayo, were looted and acts of arson were committed. The State responded with force and widespread arrests. Many were dragnet arrests, coupled with a few that were targeted. Over 1000 people were arrested, several of them children. 4 ‘Hear them Cry ’ – An Analysis of State Violence Against Children During the January 2019 Protests