CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 17 juin 2010

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RUSSIA   (Applications nos. 11354/05 and 32952/06)         JUDGMENT       STRASBOURG   17 June 2010   FINAL   22/11/2010   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Batayev and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Christos Rozakis, President,   Nina Vajić,   Anatoly Kovler,   Dean Spielmann,   Sverre Erik Jebens,   Giorgio Malinverni,   George Nicolaou, judges, and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 27 May 2010, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in two applications (nos. 11354/05 and 32952/06) against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by ten Russian nationals listed below (“the applicants”), on 15 March 2005 and 12 July 2006 respectively. 2.     The applicants were represented by Ms L.   Khamzayeva and Mr   D.   Itslayev, lawyers practising in Moscow and in Nazran respectively. The applicants in application no.   11354/05 were granted legal aid. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mrs   V.   Milinchuk, the former Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights, and subsequently by their new representative, Mr G. Matyushkin. 3.     The applicants alleged that their seven male relatives had disappeared after their detention by the security forces in Grozny in 2000. They invoked Articles 2, 3, 5 and 13 of the Convention, as well as Article 1 of Protocol   No. 1. 4.     On 3 October 2007 and on 21 April 2009 respectively the Court decided to apply Rule   41 of the Rules of Court and to grant priority treatment to the applications, and to give notice of the applications to the Government. It also decided to examine the merits of the applications at the same time as their admissibility (Article 29 § 3 of the Convention). 5.     The Government objected to the joint examination of the admissibility and merits of application no.   11354/05. Having considered the Government's objection, the Court dismissed it. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 6.     The applicants in application no. 11354/05 are:                 Mr Khuseyn Batayev,                 Mr Vakha Batayev,                 Ms Razet Sambiyeva,                 Ms Layla Ibragimova, born in 1950,                 Ms Elisa Ibragimova, born in 1977,                 Ms Baret Ilyasova,                 Ms Luiza Temurkayeva, born in 1975,                 Ms Zura Ismailova, born in 1955, and                 Ms Briliant Musayeva, born in 1951. The applicant in application no. 32952/06 is: Ms Zemfira Alayeva, born in 1973. 7.   All applicants live in the Chechen Republic (Chechnya), Russia. A.     The applicants' relatives' disappearance 8.     The applicants belong to six families. Their seven male relatives were detained in two separate incidents in 2000 in Grozny or the Grozny district and subsequently disappeared. None of the applicants had witnessed the detention of their family members and their account is based on the witnesses' accounts. The first nine applicants have been conducting the search for their relatives together. 1.     Apprehension of Khasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev 9.     The second and third applicants are the parents of the first applicant and of Khasan Batayev, who was born in 1979. The fourth applicant is the mother of Zaur Ibragimov, who was born in 1975. The fifth applicant is his wife. The sixth applicant is the mother of Magomed Temurkayev, who was born in 1974 and is married to the seventh applicant. The eighth applicant is the mother of Rizvan Ismailov, who was born in 1974. The ninth applicant is the mother of Sayd-Ali Musayev, born in 1973, and Kharon Musayev, born in 1976. 10.     On 18 September 2000 Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev, Kharon Musayev and Khasan Batayev were at Khasan Batayev's home at 44 Vostochnaya Street, Grozny. Two cars, a VAZ-21099 used by Magomed Temurkayev and a VAZ-2106 driven by Zaur Ibragimov, were parked in the courtyard. 11.     At about 4 p.m. two armoured personnel carriers (“APCs”) and a UAZ vehicle with the registration number 480-20-RUS arrived at 44   Vostochnaya Street. A group of men wearing camouflage uniforms and armed with machine guns got out of the vehicles and burst inside. They seized Khasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev and took them away. The armed men also took the two VAZ cars. The men spoke unaccented Russian. 12.     The applicants have had no news of Khasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev since 18   September 2000. 13.     The Government in their observations did not dispute most of the facts as presented by the applicants. They stated that on 18   September 2000 “unidentified persons wearing camouflage uniforms” had entered the house at 44   Vostochnaya Street in Grozny and taken away Khasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev, whose whereabouts remained unknown. The Government denied that the stolen cars had belonged to Magomed Temurkayev and Zaur Ibragimov. They also challenged certain aspects of the applicants' version of the events with reference to the documents from the criminal investigation file (see details below). 2.     Apprehension of Usman Mavluyev 14.     The tenth applicant is the wife of Usman Mavluyev, who was born in 1972. 15.     In the autumn of 1999, during the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya, she lived with her husband and their two sons at 81 Zabolotnogo Street in Grozny. 16.     In November 1999, fearing for her sons' safety, the applicant went with them to stay with her mother, who lived in the village of Zakan-Yurt in the Achkhoy-Martan District. Her husband remained in Grozny. 17.     On 7 January 2000 Ms Z.A., a friend and a remote relative of the Mavluyevs who also lived in Grozny, heard from other residents that, owing to the intensification of the military operations, on 8 January   2000 a “humanitarian corridor” would be arranged for civilians so as to let them escape from the fighting in Grozny. In the evening Ms Z.A. and Usman Mavluyev agreed to use that corridor and to leave for Zakan-Yurt. 18.     At approximately 10 a.m. on 8 January 2000 Usman Mavluyev, Ms   Z.A., Ms S., Ms R.G. and Ms L.G. walked towards the southern exit from Grozny through the village of Chernorechye. At a certain point they were joined by Mr V. At the checkpoint in Chernorechye they were stopped for a document inspection by servicemen of the Russian interior troops. At that moment Usman Mavluyev and Mr   V. were the only men in the group of civilians trying to leave Grozny. They presented their passports to the servicemen. After that the servicemen tied their hands, put bags on their heads and dragged them to an APC. The servicemen did not put any questions to them. Usman Mavluyev did not want to go and obeyed the servicemen reluctantly. Then they hit him with the butt of an assault rifle and forced him and Mr V. into the APC. Usman Mavluyev has never been seen again. 19.     A few minutes after the APCs had left, bombing began. In panic, Ms   Z.A., together with other residents, ran back to Grozny. On 12 January 2000 she managed to leave Grozny and arrive in Zakan-Yurt. There she related to the tenth applicant the circumstances of her husband's detention. Ms   Z.A.'s written account dated 5 September 2006 was enclosed with the application. In her further submissions the tenth applicant also referred to Ms Z.A. as Ms A.A. 20.     The tenth applicant has had no news of Usman Mavluyev since 8   January 2000. 21.     The Government in their observations did not challenge most of the facts as presented by the applicant. They stated that on 8 January 2000 Usman Mavluyev had been apprehended by “unidentified persons” at the checkpoint in Chernorechye and taken away to an unknown destination. The Government disputed the involvement of State agents in Usman Mavluyev's disappearance. B.     Search for the applicants' relatives and the investigation 22.     The accounts in this subsection are mainly based on the information provided by the applicants. It appears that all of them sent numerous letters to the prosecutors and other authorities, describing the circumstances in which their relatives had been detained and asking for assistance and details of the investigation. The first nine applicants submitted a significant number of replies from the authorities forwarding their requests to different prosecution services. They received hardly any substantive information from the official bodies about the investigation into the disappearances. As regards the tenth applicant, she received information on the subsequent course of the investigation in 2008, after her request to study the case file had been granted by the domestic courts (see paragraphs 147-156 below). Below is a summary of the letters kept by the applicants and the replies they received from the authorities, and of other relevant developments. 23.     In their observations the Government submitted some additional important details on the progress of the investigation, which are summarised separately in part C below. 1. Search for Khasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev 24.     It appears that shortly after the abduction of the six men their relatives started complaining about it and the theft of the two cars to various State officials. 25.     On 2 October 2000 criminal investigation file no.   12199 into Khasan Batayev's kidnapping was opened under Article 126   §   2 of the Russian Criminal Code (“aggravated kidnapping”) by the Grozny town prosecutor's office (“the town prosecutor's office”). 26.     On 11 November 2000 the town prosecutor's office instituted an investigation into Magomed Temurkayev's kidnapping under Article   126   §   2 of the Russian Criminal Code (“aggravated kidnapping”). The case was assigned number 12256. 27.     On 16 November 2000 the town prosecutor's office launched criminal investigation file no.   12263 into Rizvan Ismailov's kidnapping. 28.     In their observations the Government submitted that on 2   December 2000 the investigation in case no. 12199 had been suspended on account of the failure to identify the perpetrators. The Government submitted no relevant documents. 29.     On 8 January 2001 the town prosecutor's office suspended the proceedings in case no. 12263 for the same reason. 30.     On 9 January 2001 the town prosecutor's office opened criminal investigation file no. 11012 into Zaur Ibragimov's kidnapping. 31.     On 1 February 2001 the prosecutor's office of the Chechen Republic (“the Chechnya prosecutor's office”) forwarded the sixth applicant's complaint to the town prosecutor's office and commented that Magomed Temurkayev had been taken away by “unidentified military servicemen in masks”. 32.     On 9 February 2001 the Chechnya prosecutor's office forwarded to the town prosecutor's office the seventh applicant's complaint about the disappearance of her son, who had been apprehended by “unidentified military servicemen”. 33.     On 2 April 2001 the town prosecutor's office instituted a criminal investigation into the kidnapping of the ninth applicant's sons, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev, under Article 126 § 2 of the Russian Criminal Code (“aggravated kidnapping”). The case was assigned number 11107. 34.     On 26 April 2001 the investigation in criminal case no. 12199 was resumed. On the same day cases nos. 12256, 12263 and 11012 were joined to it. 35.     On 16 July 2002 the Chechnya prosecutor's office informed the applicants, including the ninth applicant, that the investigation in case   no.   12199 had been suspended and then resumed and that the case file had been transferred to the town prosecutor's office. 36.     On 19 August 2002 the Chechen Department of the Ministry of the Interior, pursuant to the rules on territorial jurisdiction, forwarded the eighth applicant's complaint about Rizvan Ismailov's apprehension “by military servicemen” to the department of the interior of the Leninskiy District of Grozny. 37.     On 5 November 2002 the applicants' counsel requested the Main Department for the Execution of Sentences to inform him whether Khasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev had been in detention since September 2000. On 29 November 2002 the Main Information Centre of the Ministry of the Interior replied that it had no information concerning the six missing men. 38.     On 25 November 2002 the town prosecutor's office granted victim status to the ninth applicant in case no. 11107 in relation to her sons' kidnapping. 39.     On 19 December 2002 the town prosecutor's office suspended the proceedings in case no. 11107 on account of the failure to identify the perpetrators and ordered the police to pursue more actively the search for Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev. 40.     On 15 October 2003 the prosecutor's office of the Leninskiy District of Grozny (“the district prosecutor's office”) granted victim status in case no. 12199 to the following five applicants: the second, eighth and ninth applicants in relation to their sons' kidnapping; and the fourth and sixth applicants in relation to their sons' kidnapping and the theft of their cars. The decision referred to the registration number of the car which had belonged to Zaur Ibragimov, but only referred to the type of vehicle – VAZ-21099 – used by Magomed Timurkayev. The first, third, fifth and seventh applicants were not granted victim status. 41.     On 24 October 2003 the district prosecutor's office suspended the proceedings in case no. 12199 because the term of the preliminary investigation had expired and ordered the police to pursue more actively the search for the disappeared men. According to the decision, the six men had been apprehended by “unidentified persons” wearing camouflage uniforms and armed with machine guns. 42.     In their observations the Government submitted that on 7   April 2005 case no. 11107 had been joined to case no. 12199. 43.     On 14 December 2005 the district prosecutor's office resumed the investigation in case no. 12199. 44.     On 15 January 2006 the district prosecutor's office stayed the investigation in case no. 12199 on account of the failure to identify the perpetrators and establish their whereabouts. 45.     On 12 November 2007 the district prosecutor's office resumed the investigation in case no. 12199. 46.     It appears that the investigation in criminal case no. 12199 has remained pending thereafter. 2. Search for Usman Mavluyev (a)     Criminal proceedings 47.     On 13 January 2000 the tenth applicant went to Gudermes, since all administrative and law-enforcement agencies were located there during the hostilities in Grozny. She submitted written applications concerning her husband's unlawful detention to the military prosecutor, the department of the interior and the department of the Federal Security Service (“the FSB”). She was promised that necessary measures would be taken. 48.     The tenth applicant has not enclosed copies of her applications. She enclosed a certificate of 6 June 2000 issued by the Achkhoy-Martan district department of the FSB stating that in January 2000 she had applied to that department in connection with her husband's disappearance. The certificate also stated that, according to the check that had been conducted, Usman Mavluyev had been a missing person since 8   January   2000. The Government in their observations disputed the authenticity of this document. 49.     According to the tenth applicant, since January 2000 she went to Gudermes approximately every three days to find out whether there was any news about her husband. Several times she met the Deputy Prosecutor of the Chechen Republic, who each time asked her to submit a written application, which she did. He also took from the applicant her husband's photo and copies of their children's birth certificates. 50.     In the end of March 2000 and in February 2001 the tenth applicant went to prisons in Pyatigorsk and in Voronezh since she had heard that detainees from Chechnya were held there. However, prison officials told the applicant that her husband was not being held there. 51.     Since the tenth applicant submitted numerous applications to State authorities concerning her husband's disappearance and then regularly met with State officials in this connection, she believed that an official investigation was under way. However, when in January 2004 she applied in person to the prosecutor's office of the Zavodskoy District of Grozny – the district where her husband's detention had taken place – she found out that no criminal investigation had been initiated. She then lodged a request for the institution of criminal proceedings. 52.     On 16 April 2004 the Zavodskoy District Prosecutor's Office (“the district prosecutor's office”) instituted criminal investigation no. 31036 into Usman Mavluyev's abduction under Article 126 § 2 of the Russian Criminal Code (“aggravated kidnapping”). 53.     On 18 April 2004 the tenth applicant was granted victim status in the criminal proceedings. 54.     The applicant received information on the subsequent course of the investigation in 2008, after her request to study the case file had eventually been granted by the domestic courts (see paragraphs 147-156 below). 55.     On 19 April 2004 Ms A.A., also referred to by the tenth applicant as Ms Z.A., was questioned. She submitted that when she had been trying to leave Grozny with other civilians on 8 January 2000, servicemen at the checkpoint in Chernorechye had apprehended Usman Mavluyev and Mr V. 56.     On 1 May 2004 the district prosecutor's office requested the military commander of the Urus-Martan district to provide information about the military units deployed in Chernorechye in January 2000. Similar requests were sent to other military commanders in the Chechen Republic, the head of the Operational Search Bureau no. 2 (“the ORB-2”) and the head of the Chechnya FSB Department. 57.     On the same date the district prosecutor's office requested the head of the Achkhoy-Martan district department of the interior (ROVD) to identify close relatives of Usman Mavluyev residing in Zakan-Yurt and to check whether he had been a member of an illegal armed group. At the same time the head of the Zavodskoy ROVD was requested to establish which units of the federal forces had been deployed at the checkpoint in Chernorechye, which officers had been on duty at the checkpoint on 8   January 2000, to identify close relatives of Usman Mavluyev and witnesses to his abduction and to summon them to the district prosecutor's office. 58.     On 8 May 2004 the district prosecutor's office sent requests to the heads of remand prisons in the Northern Caucasus for information as to whether Usman Mavluyev was detained in any of their detention facilities. 59.     In May and June 2004 the military commanders of the Zavodskoy and Urus-Martan districts and the Chechnya FSB department replied that their offices had no information about Usman Mavluyev's involvement in an illegal armed group. They also had no information about his abduction by federal servicemen or about the deployment of the federal forces in Chernorechye on 8   January 2000. 60.     On 25 May 2004 Ms R.G. and Ms L.G. were questioned. Their statements corroborated that of Ms A.A. 61.     On 1 June 2004 Ms S. was questioned. Her statement corroborated those of other witnesses. 62.     On 16 June 2004 the district prosecutor's office suspended the investigation on account of the failure to identify the perpetrators. 63.     On 22 June 2004 the head of the ORB-2 replied that officers of the ORB-2 had not detained Usman Mavluyev. 64.     On 10 August 2004 the assistant to the head of the United Group Alignment (“the UGA”) replied that he had no information about Usman Mavluyev's detention and whereabouts and that documents concerning the UGA's activities in 2000 were stored in the archives of the Ministry of Defence. 65.     In September 2004 the applicant went to the FSB headquarters in Moscow. She left a written application addressed to the head of the FSB in which she set out the circumstances of her husband's detention. She received no reply. 66.     On 26 April 2006 the Achkhoy-Martan District Court declared Usman Mavluyev a missing person as from 9 January 2000. It noted that a criminal investigation into his abduction had been pending since April 2004. 67.     On 20 November 2006 the district prosecutor's office resumed the proceedings and ordered certain investigative measures. The decision stated, in particular: “In the course of the preliminary investigation it has been established that on 8   January 2000 [Mr] Usman Mavluyev, born in 1972, was apprehended at the checkpoint of the federal forces at the exit from the village of Chernorechye and taken to an unknown destination...” 68.     On 30 November 2006 the district prosecutor's office requested the FSB department in the Southern Federal Circuit to conduct a search for Usman Mavluyev. Requests for information as to Usman Mavluyev's whereabouts were also sent to the district military commanders in Grozny and the FSB departments in Grozny and in the Chechen Republic. 69.     On the same date the district prosecutor's office requested the penitentiary service departments in the Southern Federal Circuit to provide information as to whether Usman Mavluyev had ever been admitted to custodial facilities in these regions. The heads of remand prisons in the region were also requested to provide information as to whether Usman Mavluyev had been held in any such facilities at any time after January 2000. The requests specified that he had been detained at the checkpoint of the federal forces. 70.     Also on 30 November 2006 the district prosecutor's office requested the Zavodskoy ROVD to identify witnesses to Usman Mavluyev's abduction and to establish which units of the federal forces had been deployed at the checkpoint in Chernorechye on 8   January 2000. Requests were also sent to all district and town prosecutors' offices to check whether criminal proceedings had been instituted into the discovery of an unidentified body resembling Usman Mavluyev. At the same time the heads of the district departments of the interior in Chechnya were requested to check whether any unidentified bodies resembling Usman Mavluyev had been found within their departments' jurisdiction after 8 January 2000. 71.     On the same date the district prosecutor's office requested the ORB ‑ 2 to take steps to establish the perpetrators of Usman Mavluyev's abduction. The Leninskiy ROVD in Grozny was requested to take measures to establish Usman Mavluyev's whereabouts and to check whether any unidentified bodies that resembled him had been discovered. 72.     On 20 December 2006 the district prosecutor's office again suspended the investigation on account of the failure to identify the perpetrators. 73.     In January and February 2007 the Gudermes and Kurchaloy district law-enforcement authorities replied to the district prosecutor's office that they had no information concerning Usman Mavluyev and that no criminal proceedings had been instituted in connection with the discovery of unidentified bodies resembling him. 74.     On 15 January 2007 the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service department in Kalmykiya replied that registers of custodial facilities in the republic contained no information about Usman Mavluyev's detention after 8 January 2000. 75.     On 24 July 2009 Special Investigation Unit No. 2 ( Отдел по расследованию особо важных дел № 2) of the Chechnya Prosecutor's Office (“the SIU-2”) was entrusted with the investigation in case no. 31036. On the same day the SIU-2 reopened the investigation. 76.     On 28 July 2009 the SIU-2 amended the surname of the tenth applicant's husband for investigation purposes and indicated his correct surname to the Chechnya prosecutor's office (his name was spelled “Movluyev” in some of the documents). 77.     On 24 November 2009 the SIU-2 suspended the investigation because the term of the preliminary investigation had expired and ordered the district prosecutor's office to pursue the search for the perpetrators. (b) Leave to study the investigation file, request for legal aid and the grant of the status of a civil claimant 78 .     On 14 September 2006 the tenth applicant applied to the district prosecutor's office, seeking leave to study the investigation file and to make copies of it. 79.     On 26 September 2006 she applied to the same prosecutor's office with a request for legal aid. 80.     On 3 November 2006 the tenth applicant again applied to the district prosecutor's office, this time seeking leave to be granted the status of a civil claimant. 81.     On 30 November 2006 the district prosecutor's office granted the tenth applicant the status of a civil claimant in case no.   31036 but refused her leave to study the case file until the completion of the investigation. 82.     On 1 December 2006 the district prosecutor's office issued a formal decision to grant the tenth applicant the status of a civil claimant. 83.     On 8 December 2006 the applicant requested a copy of the decision of 1   December 2006. 84.     On 14 December 2006 the applicant asked the district prosecutor's office about the outcome of the examination of her request for legal aid. 85.     On 28 December 2006 the district prosecutor's office informed her that the reply had been sent to her on 28 September 2006. It appeared that the request had been refused. C. Information about the investigation submitted by the Government 1.     Investigation into the kidnapping of Khasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev 86.     Despite specific requests by the Court the Government did not disclose most of the contents of the criminal investigation files. Thus, they submitted 50 pages from criminal investigation files nos. 11012, 11107, 12199, 12256 and 12263. The documents submitted included decisions to open, suspend and resume the investigations and to grant victim status, as well as letters to the relatives informing them of the adjournment and reopening of the proceedings. No other documents, such as witness statements or expert reports, were produced by the Government. 87.     Relying on the information obtained from the Prosecutor General's Office, the Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article   161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the files contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings. 88.     The documents, as well as the Government's submissions with regard to the investigation, can be summarised as follows. 89.   The Government did not dispute the information provided by the applicants as regards most of the starting dates of the investigation into the applicants' relatives' abduction by “unidentified men in camouflage uniforms” on 18 September 2000. The Government submitted that the investigation had started with the opening of case no. 12199 in respect of Khasan Batayev on 2 October 2000; of case no. 12256 in respect of Magomed Temurkayev on 11 November 2000; and of case no. 12263 in respect of Rizvan Ismailov on 16 November 2000. 90.     At the same time, the Government stated that the criminal investigation in case no. 11012 in respect of Zaur Ibragimov had been opened on 9   November 2000 and not on 9 January 2001 as the applicants asserted. It also follows from the documents produced by the Government, in particular from the town prosecutor's reply to the fourth applicant dated 27   April 2001, that criminal investigation no. 11012 was instituted on 9   November 2000 in respect of both Rizvan Ismailov and Zaur Ibragimov. The Chechnya prosecutor's reply to the eighth applicant dated 20 November 2001 states that investigation no.   12263 had been launched on 8   November 2000. 91.     The Government further submitted that on 2 April 2001 the town prosecutor's office had opened criminal investigation no. 11107 into the kidnapping of Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev. On 26 April 2001 cases no. 11012, 12256 and 12263 had been joined to case no. 12199. On 7   April 2005 case no. 11107 was joined to case no. 12199. 92.     On 15 October 2003 the second, eighth and ninth applicants were granted victim status in relation to their sons' kidnapping. On the same day the fourth and sixth applicants were granted victim status in relation to their sons' kidnapping and the theft of the cars. The first, third, fifth and seventh applicants were not granted victim status. The Government submitted that after October 2003 only the applicants who had victim status had been duly informed of all decisions taken during the investigation. 93.     The Government stated that after October 2003 the applicants and a number of witnesses were questioned by the investigation. The Government provided a brief outline of their accounts, without appending copies of the transcripts or specifying the dates of the questioning. Their submissions can be summarised as follows. 94.     The second applicant was questioned as a victim. He testified that his son, Khasan Batayev, had not participated in illegal armed groups. He had been involved in oil-extraction activities. On 18   September 2000 Khasan had gone to the Oktyabrskiy District of Grozny, in order to search for oil. The second applicant had not seen him thereafter. On 19 September 2000 an unknown boy had come to the applicant's house and said that on the previous day a group of armed men had seized seven or eight persons, including his son, at 44 Vostochnaya Street in Grozny and had driven them away. Some time later the applicant learnt that a certain Ms Mosha had let the house to young police officers. The applicant did not know his son's friends. He was unaware of why his son had gone to their home. 95.     The eighth applicant gave a similar account of the events. 96.     It appears that the ninth applicant was questioned at least twice, once as a witness and once as a victim. As a witness, she testified that her sons, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev, had left the family residence in September 2000. She had not seen them thereafter. On 19 September 2000 the special police force unit ( ОМОN ) had informed her that on the previous day her sons had been apprehended by masked men wearing camouflage uniforms at 44 Vostochnaya Street in Grozny. She also found out that a certain Ms Mosha had let the house to the police officers, who, together with her son, had been apprehended and taken away that day. 97.     The sixth applicant's statements corroborated those of the ninth applicant. 98.     Further questioned as a victim, the ninth applicant mentioned that her sons had worked as law-enforcement officers and rented the house at 44   Vostochnaya Street in Grozny, close to their workplace. On 18   September 2000 two or three APCs and a UAZ vehicle had arrived at their place of residence. A group of armed men had got out of the cars and burst into the house. The men had seized her sons and some other persons, put them in one of the APCs and driven them away. 99.     The fourth applicant testified that on 18 September 2000 her son, Zaur Ibragimov, had been at Sayd-Ali Musayev's home at 44 Vostochnaya Street, together with Magomed Temurkayev, Kharon Musayev, Rizvan Ismailov and Khasan Batayev. An APC and three other vehicles (a VAZ, a grey UAZ and a white Zhiguli – all without registration numbers) arrived at the house. A group of masked men wearing military uniforms got out of the cars, entered the house and seized the above-mentioned persons, forcing them out blindfolded with their hands tied. 100.     The investigation also questioned Ms Ma. (also referred to as “Ms   Mosha” by the applicants) as a witness. She testified that house no. 44 in Vostochnaya Street belonged to her brother, who had lived abroad. In the summer of 2000 she had let the house to a young man called “Kharon”. He had settled in together with his family. On 18 September 2000 neighbours had told her that some young men had been apprehended at the house by a group of armed persons in two APCs and several UAZ vehicles. The armed persons had then driven them to an unknown destination. A car had also been taken away. 101.     The Government also referred to the testimony of Ms Mu., a neighbour residing at 39 Vostochnaya Street. Ms Mu. stated that in the middle of September 2000 she had seen servicemen arrive and encircle houses nos. 44 and 46 in Vostochnaya Street. They had ordered the persons outside to return to their houses. Some time later she had looked down the street and seen persons being forced out from house no. 44 and into an APC and a UAZ vehicle. 102.     According to the Government, the investigation also questioned another ten relatives and neighbours of the disappeared persons, including the fifth applicant and Rizvan Ismailov's cousin. None of them had witnessed the abduction and they had learnt about the events several days later. Rizvan Ismailov's cousin submitted that in 2000 Rizvan had worked as a security agent for the mayor of Grozny. The Government submitted that the criminal investigation file contained Rizvan Ismailov's record of employment, according to which he had served as a security agent of the Deputy Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal Circuit. 103.     The investigation also questioned some officials. Officer D., who at the time had worked at the OMON, testified that on 18   September 2000 an unknown woman at a checkpoint had told him that she had heard machine-gun firing in Vostochnaya Street. A group of police officers went there. Upon arrival, they had learnt about the six men's disappearance. Zaur Ibragimov and Sayd-Ali Musayev had been trainee police officers at the special police force unit. They had been dismissed during probation for unsatisfactory performance. 104.     The Government submitted that the investigation had taken steps to establish the whereabouts of Mr B., the former head of the FSB in the Chechen Republic, and Mr D., his deputy, in order to question them about the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping. 105.     The Government also stated that on an unspecified date an investigator had inspected the scene of the crime. No relevant record was produced by the Government. 106.     The Government submitted that a number of queries had been sent to various State bodies by those investigating the six men's disappearance. No copies thereof were provided by the Government. 107.     The Government referred to information provided by the “ORB-2”, according to which there was no information about any special operations having taken place in Grozny on 18 September 2000. This document was not included in the case file. 108.     The Government also submitted that the law-enforcement authorities of Chechnya had not arrested or detained Khasan Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev on 18 September 2000, and that their whereabouts remained unknown. With reference to documents provided by the Chechnya FSB department and the ORB-2, the Government stated that there was no “discrediting information” about the six men. Copies of these documents were not produced by the Government. 109.     According to the Government, the head of the Road Safety Department in the Chechen Republic failed to establish the provenance of the UAZ vehicle with the registration number “480-20”, since the department archives collected before 2000 had been destroyed during the counter-terrorist operation. 110.     The documents and additional information provided by the Government indicate that between October 2000 and November 2007 the investigation was adjourned on several occasions, and that it has so far failed to identify who was guilty. 2. Investigation into the kidnapping of Usman Mavluyev 111.   Further to the Court's request, the Government provided about 300 pages of documents from criminal investigation file no.   31036, including copies of the decisions to open, suspend and resume the investigation and to grant victim status to the tenth applicant; letters informing her of the course of the proceedings; witness statements; and copies of requests for information sent by the investigating authorities to various State bodies. The Government also submitted documents from the court proceedings relating to the decision to grant her access to the case file and legal aid (see paragraphs 147-156 below). These documents and the Government's observations can be summarised as follows. 112.     The Government contested that prior to April 2004 the tenth applicant had submitted any applications concerning her husband's disappearance. They in particular denied that in   January 2000 she had lodged written applications with the prosecutor and the department of the interior, or with the FSB departments in the Gudermes and Achkhoy-Martan districts. The Government insisted that no copies of those documents had been produced by the tenth applicant. They referred to information provided by the Ministry of the Interior on 15 April 2004, according to which from 2000 to 2003 no applications in connection with Usman Mavluyev's disappearance had been registered. They also appended a letter from the Achkhoy-Martan district FSB department dated 11   August 2009, which stated that it was unable to establish whether the applicant had lodged such an application in 2000 because the relevant archives had been destroyed following the expiry of their storage limit. 113.     The Government also challenged the authenticity of the certificate issued by the Chechnya FSB department on 6 June 2000, which stated that in January 2000 the tenth applicant had applied to the FSB district department in Achkhoy-Martan in connection with her husband's disappearance. The Government pointed out that the certificate was written on plain paper and did not contain information as to the name and surname of the issuing officer. If the tenth applicant had really submitted such an application, it would have been transferred to the competent authorities for a check. 114.     The Government thus submitted that the tenth applicant had first filed a written request for the institution of criminal proceedings on 16 April 2004. On the same day the Zavodskoy ROVD of Grozny forwarded her application to the Zavodskoy district prosecutor's office. Thereafter the district prosecutor's office instituted criminal investigation no.   31036 into Usman Mavluyev's abduction under Article   126 § 2 of the Russian Criminal Code (“aggravated kidnapping”). 115.     On 16 April 2004 the tenth applicant and Ms A.A., also referred to by the applicant as Ms Z.A., submitted written statements as witnesses. The Government provided copies of the transcripts