CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 7 juin 2011

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margin-bottom:0pt; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s507451D6 { width:4.53pt; display:inline-block } .s299839C6 { width:212.77pt; display:inline-block } .s7602FED2 { width:18.21pt; display:inline-block } .sC1AC44A4 { width:228.11pt; display:inline-block }     FIRST SECTION           CASE OF VITAYEVA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA   (Application no. 27459/07)               JUDGMENT       STRASBOURG   7 June 2011   FINAL   28/11/2011     This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 (c) of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Vitayeva and Others v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Nina Vajić, President,   Anatoly Kovler,   Christos Rozakis,   Peer Lorenzen,   Elisabeth Steiner,   Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska,   Julia Laffranque, judges, and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 17 May 2011, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 27459/07) 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 the three Russian nationals listed below (“the applicants”), on 14 June 2007. 2.     The applicants were represented by lawyers of the Stichting Russian Justice Initiative (“SRJI”), an NGO based in the Netherlands with a representative office in Russia. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, the Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights. 3.     On 27 August 2009 the Court decided to apply Rule   41 of the Rules of Court and to grant priority treatment to the application and to give notice of the application to the Government. Under the provisions of former Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility. 4.     The Government objected to the joint examination of the admissibility and merits of the application. Having considered the Government’s objection, the Court dismissed it. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 5.     The applicants are: (1) Ms Zalina Vitayeva, who was born in 1982; (2) Ms Yakhita Kudayeva, who was born in 1959; and (3) Mr Murad Kudayev, who was born in 2002. The applicants live in Grozny. The first applicant is the wife of Magomed-Emi (also known as Magomed-Emin, Magomed or Zema) Kudayev, who was born in 1982; the second applicant is his mother; and the third applicant is his son. A.     Disappearance of Magomed-Emi Kudayev 1.     Information submitted by the applicants (a)     Abduction of the applicants’ relative 6.     At the material time the applicants and Magomed-Emi Kudayev lived in one household at 63-65 Ippodromniy Lane in the Leninskiy district of Grozny. The household consisted of several dwellings around a yard. Magomed-Emi Kudayev and the first and third applicants lived together in one dwelling with a separate entrance. The second applicant and a number of other relatives, including Magomed Kudayev’s grandparents, lived in the other dwellings. Magomed Kudayev was a fourth year student at the Grozny Oil Institute. He worked as an unarmed security guard for a private company. At the material time the area was under curfew. 7.     On the evening of 27 March 2004 the applicants, their relatives and Magomed-Emi Kudayev were at home. At about 11.45 p.m. the first applicant heard a noise and looked out of the window. She saw a group of about ten armed masked men. The men were fairly short and were wearing camouflage-coloured jackets and black trousers as well as green camouflage outfits. The applicant thought that they were military servicemen. One of them was not particularly tall and was of a rather heavy build. He spoke unaccented Russian and was wearing a camouflage jacket and camouflage trousers. The applicants thought that this man was Russian, whereas the rest of the intruders were Chechens as they spoke Russian with an accent. 8.     Having woken up her husband, the first applicant went to the door. One of the men asked her: “Where is Zelimkhan?” Magomed Kudayev answered that it was he. Then a man ordered him in accented Russian to get dressed and follow them. The men did not ask for any documents. When the first applicant asked where they were taking her husband, one of the intruders pointed his gun at her and ordered her to go into another room. Meanwhile the second applicant, who had been alerted by the noise, entered the room. Some of the men entered the dwelling of Magomed Kudayev’s grandparents. When Magomed Kudayev’s grandfather asked the intruders what they were looking for, one of them answered in Chechen that they would find what they were looking for. 9.     The second applicant kept asking the men about the reasons for her son’s arrest, but she did not receive any explanation. The Russian man ordered the others to hurry up and take Magomed Kudayev away. Next, the men put Magomed Kudayev’s hands behind his back and took him outside, where they grabbed Magomed Kudayev and quickly carried him from the yard to two UAZ vehicles parked in the street. Both vehicles had tinted windows; one of them had an antenna and the other one was a minivan (“ Таблетка ”). 10.     The second applicant attempted to follow the intruders and threw a rock at them. In response they opened fire with their guns. Magomed Kudayev asked them not to shoot at the household premises. The men quickly placed Magomed Kudayev in the minivan and drove away. 11.     Immediately after the abduction, alarmed by the shooting, a number of neighbours gathered at the applicants’ house. One of the applicants’ acquaintances, who worked at the Leninskiy district department of the interior (“the ROVD”), immediately drove to the ROVD to bring an investigator over. 12.     About 20 minutes after the abduction, officers from the Leninskiy ROVD arrived at the scene. The applicants described the intruders’ vehicles, and one of the police officers told them that he had overheard on the police radio that two cars matching their description had passed through the checkpoint located on the road to Khankala and that the cars had ignored the soldiers’ attempts to stop them. (b)     Subsequent events 13.     On the following day, 28 March 2004, an investigator from the Leninskiy ROVD took statements from the applicants, their relatives and neighbours. The crime scene was examined and a few spent bullet cartridges were collected as evidence. According to the applicants, the investigator told them that servicemen from the “ Vostok” (East) battalion , a military unit staffed by Chechens under the command of Mr S. Ya., had most probably been involved in the abduction. 14.     About five or six days after the abduction, a young man visited the first applicant and asked whether she was Zalina, the wife of Zema. After the applicant confirmed that, he told her that he worked at the base of the Vostok battalion in Vedeno, Chechnya, that Magomed Kudayev had been taken to the base, and that she should contact its commander, Mr S. Ya. in Gudermes, Chechnya, before her husband was killed. 15.     The applicants and their family members went to Gudermes twice to have a meeting with Mr S. Ya. but the base’s guards did not allow them to see him. 16.     About three weeks after the abduction, Magomed Kudayev’s uncle was approached by a Mr A.G., who told him that his nephew, Mr Ya. Ge., had been abducted on 6 April 2004, that his nephew had been detained in the same place as Magomed Kudayev for about eight days, and that both detainees had had sacks pulled over their heads and had been handcuffed. Sometimes the sacks had been removed and the detainees had been able to see each other. They had been detained in a pit-like basement in a bathhouse. The building had had electricity and natural light had penetrated through cracks in the walls. The detainees had been fed. They had heard dogs barking and the noise of helicopters, gunfire and calls for prayer, which they had thought were coming from a mosque situated nearby. Several days later Mr Ya. Ge. had been released with the assistance of Mr   A.G.’s brother, Mr Kh. G. During his release Mr Ya. Ge. had noticed two domes located not far away from the detention place. 17.     The applicants asked Mr A.G. to assist them in the release of Magomed Kudayev. Mr A.G. promised that he would speak to his brother, Mr Kh. G., about that. For three months the applicants and their relatives waited for any information about Magomed Kudayev. Then Mr A.G. told them that his brother could not establish Magomed Kudayev’s whereabouts. 18.     In November 2004 the first applicant met Mr Ya. Ge., who at the time was working in the Vostok battalion . According to him, Magomed Kudayev was probably still in detention at the battalion’s base in Vedeno. 19.     According to another man, Mr R., who used to work in the Vostok battalion in Vedeno, Magomed Kudayev had been detained there for seven months and after that he had been transferred elsewhere. 20.     In 2005 the applicants’ relative spoke to Mr V.P., the head of the criminal search division of the Chechnya Ministry of the Interior (“the MVD”), who confirmed that a group of investigators had visited the pit in Vedeno and had confirmed that Magomed Kudayev had been detained there. 21.     In support of their statements the applicants submitted the following documents: a statement by the first applicant, dated 15 February 2006; a statement by the second applicant, dated 21 August 2006; a statement by the applicants’ neighbour Ms L.D., dated 1 October 2006; a statement by the applicants’ neighbour Ms R.M., dated 12 November 2006; a statement by Mr A.G., dated 24 November 2006; a statement by the applicants’ neighbour Mr Kh. M., dated 24 November 2006; and four hand-drawn maps of the applicants’ household and its premises. 2.     Information submitted by the Government 22.     The Government did not challenge the facts as presented by the applicants. B.     The search for Magomed-Emi Kudayev and the investigation 1.     Information submitted by the applicants 23.     On 28 March 2004 the applicants reported Magomed Kudayev’s abduction to a number of local law-enforcement authorities, including the ROVD. 24.     On 8 April 2004 the Chechnya military commander’s office forwarded the applicants’ report of the abduction to the Leninskiy district military commander’s office of Grozny (“the district military commander’s office”) for examination. 25.     On 13 April 2004 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 27 March 2004 and 14 June 2004) the Leninskiy district prosecutor’s office (“the district prosecutor’s office”) instituted a criminal investigation into the abduction of Magomed Kudayev under Article   126   §   2 of the Criminal Code (aggravated kidnapping). The case file was given number 30028 (in the documents submitted it was also referred to under the numbers 30024 and 20130). 26.     On 30 April 2004 the investigators granted the second applicant victim status in the criminal case. 27.     On 13 May 2004 the Chechnya prosecutor’s office informed the applicants that the district prosecutor’s office had instituted an investigation into the abduction and that operational-search measures were underway. 28.     On 25 May 2004 the Chechnya MVD informed the applicants that they had collected information concerning the abduction and that this information had been forwarded to the district prosecutor’s office. 29.     On 20 or 22 December 2004 the first applicant reported her husband’s abduction to the Chechnya military commander. She described its circumstances and stated that four days after the events in question she had met a man who had told her that Magomed Kudayev had been detained in Vedeno and that she was supposed to ask the commander of the Vostok battalion, Mr S. Ya., in Gudermes for his release. She further stated that three weeks later she had spoken with a man who had told her that his relative, a young man, was detained for eight days with Magomed Kudayev in a half-ruined old bathhouse building. He further told her that the detainees had heard dogs barking and the noise of helicopters, calls for prayers, conversations between the guards and had also heard their nicknames, such as “ Bandit” (Bandit), who had been a tall man, “ Tigr ” (Tiger), “ Beliy ” (White) and “ Tikhiy ” (Quiet). The applicant pointed out that this young man had been released with the assistance of Mr Kh. G., who lived in the Shelkovskoy district of Chechnya. 30.     On 24 December 2004 the district prosecutor’s office informed the applicants that even though their investigative measures had failed to establish the whereabouts of Magomed Kudayev, operational-search measures were underway. 31.     On 25 December 2004 and then on 21 February 2005 the Chechnya military commander forwarded the first applicant’s requests for assistance in the search for her husband to the district military commander’s office. 32.     On 18 March 2005 the district prosecutor’s office informed the applicants that they had examined a previous complaint by them of 15   March 2005 and that they had instructed the ROVD “to identify the woman named Tamila and to arrest her”. 33.     On 27 May 2005 the military prosecutor of the United Group Alignment (“the military prosecutor of the UGA”) forwarded the second applicant’s request for assistance in the search for her son to the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no.   20102. 34.     On 3 August 2005 the military prosecutor’s office of military unit no.   20102 informed the applicants that the investigation into the abduction of Magomed Kudayev had been suspended and that the investigators had not established the involvement of military servicemen in the crime. 35.     On 27 September 2005 the military prosecutor of the UGA again informed the applicants that the investigation had not established the involvement of military servicemen in the abduction of their relative and that the investigation of the criminal case had been suspended. 36.     On 12 and 14 October 2005 the investigators informed the applicants that the investigation of the criminal case had been suspended on 8   March 2005 for failure to identify the perpetrators. 37.     On 13 October 2005 the Chechnya prosecutor’s office forwarded the applicants’ report of the abduction to the district prosecutor’s office for examination. 38.     On 28 November 2005 the Chechnya department of the Federal Security Service (“the Chechnya FSB”) informed the applicants that they had not detained Magomed Kudayev and had no information concerning his whereabouts. 39.     On 7   December 2005 and again on 1   February 2006 the criminal search division of the temporary operational group of the Ministry of the Interior in Khankala, Chechnya, informed the applicants that they had no information concerning the arrest and detention of Magomed Kudayev by law-enforcement agencies in Chechnya and that they had forwarded the applicants’ request for assistance in the search for Magomed Kudayev to the Chechnya MVD. 40.     On 27 December 2005 and again on 16 January 2006 the department of military counterintelligence of the FSB informed the applicants that they had no information concerning the whereabouts of Magomed Kudayev and that the security forces of the North Caucasus were taking measures to establish his whereabouts. 41.     On 23 June 2006 the Chechnya MVD informed the applicants that they had forwarded their request for assistance in the search for Magomed Kudayev to the ROVD. 42.     On 27 February 2007 the Chechnya prosecutor’s office informed the applicants that: they had failed to establish the whereabouts of Magomed Kudayev; on 6 January 2006 the investigation of the criminal case had been suspended for failure to identify the perpetrators; on 24   February 2007 the investigation had been resumed; and that the Chechnya prosecutor’s office had ordered the investigators to take a number of investigative steps. 43.     On 2 April 2007 the investigators informed the applicants that on the same date they had suspended the investigation of the criminal case for failure to identify the perpetrators. 44.     On 25 August 2007 the Chechnya prosecutor’s office informed the applicants that the investigation of the criminal case had been resumed on 20 July 2007 upon the order of the supervising prosecutor. 45.     On 20 August 2007 the investigation of the criminal case was suspended for failure to establish the identities of the perpetrators. The applicants appealed against this decision (see paragraph 105 below). 46.     On 15 July 2008 the Chechnya MVD informed the applicants that they were taking operational-search measures to establish Magomed Kudayev’s whereabouts. 47.     On 1 November 2008 the Chief Military Prosecutor’s office informed the applicants that they had forwarded their complaint of 21   October 2008 to the military prosecutor’s office of the UGA. 48.     On 9 November 2008 the Prosecutor General’s office informed the applicants that they had forwarded their complaint to the Chechnya prosecutor’s office. 49.     On 4 June 2009 the Main Information Centre of the Russian Ministry of the Interior (“the Russian MVD”) informed the applicants that they had no information concerning Magomed Kudayev. 50.     On 16 June 2009 the Envoy on Human Rights and Freedoms in Chechnya complained on the applicants’ behalf to the district prosecutor’s office about the lack of information concerning the criminal investigation. No reply was given to this complaint. 51.     The applicants did not receive any further information concerning the official investigation of their relative’s abduction. 2.     Information submitted by the Government 52.     On 29 March 2004 investigators from the district prosecutor’s office examined the crime scene at the applicants’ household. One bullet and five spent cartridges were collected from the scene. 53.     On 13 April 2004 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 13 April 2002) the district prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case in connection with Magomed Kudayev’s abduction. According to the text of the decision, the investigators received the information about the abduction from the ROVD on 29 March 2004. 54.     On 13 April 2004 the investigators ordered an expert ballistics evaluation of the evidence collected from the crime scene. 55.     On 8 May 2004 the forensic assessment office provided the investigators with its report concerning the results of the expert evaluation. According to its conclusion, the bullet and the cartridges could have been fired from industrially produced AK-47 machine guns. 56.     On 19 April 2004 the investigators questioned the applicants’ neighbours, Mr Kh. M. and Ms M. Kh. Both of them stated that at about 11.40 p.m. on 27 March 2004 they had heard screaming coming from the applicants’ household. The witnesses had gone out to the street. There they had found out that unidentified armed men in camouflage uniforms and masks had opened fire and had taken away Magomed Kudayev. 57.     On 19 April 2004 the investigators questioned the applicants’ neighbour, Mr R. Kh., who stated that at about 11.30 p.m. on 27   April 2004 he had heard screaming coming from the applicants’ household. He had gone outside, where had found out that unidentified armed men in camouflage uniforms and masks had opened fire and had abducted Magomed Kudayev. The abductors had arrived in two UAZ vehicles, one of which had been a minivan. 58.     On 24 April 2004 the investigators granted victim status to Ms   Z.   Kh., the grandmother of Magomed Kudayev, and questioned her. She stated that the abductors, who had been armed and who had been dressed in camouflage and black uniforms, had arrived at the house in two UAZ   vehicles, one of which had been a minivan. They had spoken unaccented Chechen and Russian. The abductors had said that they had been looking for Zelimkhan. When Magomed had told them that was him, they had not asked for identity documents and had simply taken him outside. The first and second applicants had asked the abductors not to take their relative away. But the men had ignored their pleading and the women had then started throwing rocks at them. In response the abductors had opened fire and had gone away, taking Magomed Kudayev with them. 59.     On 30 April 2004 the investigators granted the second applicant victim status in the criminal case and questioned her about the circumstances of the abduction. The second applicant’s statement concerning the events was similar to the one given by Ms Z. Kh. 60.     On 30 April 2004 the investigators granted the first applicant victim status in the criminal case and questioned her about the circumstances of the abduction. She stated that at about 11.45 p.m. on 27 April 2004 she and her family members had been at home when a group of about nine or ten men in camouflage, black uniforms and masks had come into their courtyard. The group had arrived in two UAZ vehicles, one of which had been a minivan. The intruders had been armed with machine guns and at least one of them had spoken Chechen. The men had asked about Zelimkhan and Magomed had confirmed that was him. Then the men had taken him outside. They had neither searched the house nor asked for identity documents. The first and second applicants had begged the men not to take Magomed-Emi away but the abductors had ignored their pleadings. Then the first applicant had started throwing rocks at them. In response the abductors had opened fire and had left. 61.     On various dates in the spring 2004 the investigators sent a number of queries to various district prosecutors’ offices and departments of the interior in Chechnya, asking them to provide information concerning the whereabouts of Magomed-Emin Kudayev or discovery of his corpse. 62.     On 5 June 2004 the investigators questioned Magomed Kudayev’s classmates, Mr O.S. and Mr G.G., both of whom provided positive character references for him. 63.     On 13 June 2004 the investigation of the criminal case was suspended for failure to identify the perpetrators. 64.     On 31 January 2005 the supervising prosecutor overruled the decision to suspend the investigation as premature and unfounded. The prosecutor’s decision criticised the deficiencies in the investigation and pointed out the following: “... the investigators failed to question Mr R. Kh., Mr Kh. Kh., Ms M. Kh. and Mr   Kh. M., all of whom had witnessed the crime. Besides [that], a number of other people who had witnessed the events and could describe the abductors’ vehicles had not been questioned either. Registration numbers of the abductors’ vehicles had not been identified... other investigative steps had not been taken...” 65.     On 8 February 2005 the investigation of the criminal case was resumed. 66.     On 15 February 2005 the investigators again questioned Ms Z. Kh., who stated that about eight months prior to being questioned – that is, in June or July 2004 – a young man had arrived at the applicants’ house. He had informed the applicants that he had been detained with Magomed Kudayev for about two weeks in Vedeno, in a place resembling an abandoned bathhouse. According to the man, at first Magomed Kudayev had been tortured with electricity, but the abductors had subsequently changed their attitude and had treated the applicants’ relative better. 67.     On 17 February 2005 the investigators questioned the head of the traffic police division of the Leninskiy ROVD, officer S. Kh., who stated that in the spring of 2002 Magomed Kudayev had been their trainee for three months. According to the witness, Magomed Kudayev had made a negative impression by violating the code of discipline and arguing with his superiors. 68.     On 22 February 2005 the investigators questioned the applicants’ neighbour, Mr Kh. Mu. He stated that on the night of the abduction he had heard cars driving by in the street and had then heard gunfire. He had gone outside and had seen two UAZ vehicles driving away in the direction of the city centre. He and his neighbours, Mr R. and Mr A., had gone to the Grozny traffic police department and to the special task force group of the Chechnya Ministry of the Interior (“the OMON”). Both bureaus informed them that the vehicles had not driven into their premises. The witness and his neighbours had not been able to obtain any information concerning Magomed Kudayev’s whereabouts. 69.     On 3 March 2005 the investigators again questioned the second applicant. She stated that about eight months prior to being questioned, in the summer of 2004, a young man named Mr Ya. Ge., who had been around twenty years old, had arrived at her house and had told her that he had been detained with Magomed Kudayev for eight days. The detention place had reminded him of an abandoned bathhouse and had been located in Vedeno. At the beginning of his detention, the guards had tortured Magomed Kudayev with electricity and had beaten him. They had asked Magomed Kudayev about members of illegal armed groups (‘ ваххабиты’ ) and ammunition. According to Mr Ya. Ge., he had been abducted and had been detained by servicemen from the Vostok battalion, and he had been released with the assistance of Mr Kh. Ge., who had served in the battalion and whose call sign had been “ Uragan” (Storm). 70.     On 8 March 2005 the investigators suspended the investigation of the criminal case for failure to identify the perpetrators. 71.     On 6 December 2005 the supervising prosecutor overruled the decision to suspend the investigation as premature, unsubstantiated and unlawful. The prosecutor pointed out a number of the investigators’ failures including the following: “...Ms Z.G., who had witnessed the abduction, was not questioned by the investigators; Magomed Kudayev’s mother-in-law was not questioned about the circumstances of the visit of the young man who had been detained with Magomed Kudayev; The investigation file contains information concerning the abduction of Magomed Kudayev by servicemen of the Vostok battalion. However, the investigators did not take any measures to verify this information; The investigation file does not contain the results of the comparative ballistics expert’s evaluation of the bullet and the cartridges collected from the crime scene...” 72.     On 6 December 2005 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 24 December 2005) the investigation of the criminal case was resumed. 73.     On an unspecified date in January 2006 the investigators questioned the applicants’ relative, Ms R.V. She stated that in April 2004 a woman had approached her on the street, had told her that her son had been detained with Magomed Kudayev for five days in the same basement in Vedeno and had gone on to state that her son had been released afterwards and taken to Gudermes. The woman had asked Ms R.V. not to tell anyone about the conversation as her son could be killed for sharing such information. 74.     On 24 January 2006 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 6 January 2006) the investigators again suspended the investigation of the criminal case for failure to identify the perpetrators. 75.     On 24 February 2007 the supervising prosecutor overruled the decision to suspend the investigation as premature, unsubstantiated and unlawful and ordered that it be resumed. The prosecutor again pointed out a number of the investigators’ failures including the following: “...it is necessary to carry out the prosecutor’s orders given on 6 December 2005; to take steps to verify the applicants’ theory of the involvement of servicemen of the Vostok battalion stationed in Vedeno ... in the abduction of Magomed Kudayev; ... [and] to question Mr Ya. Ge., whose statement could play a significant role in the investigation...” 76.     On 5 March 2007 the investigators requested that military unit no.   44822 inform them whether the Vostok battalion was stationed in Vedeno and, if so, what its address was. 77.     On 6 March 2007 the investigators again questioned the second applicant. She stated that about a month after Magomed Kudayev’s abduction a man had arrived at her house. He had introduced himself as the uncle of Mr Ya. Ge. and had told her that his nephew Mr Ya. Ge. had been detained with Magomed Kudayev in an abandoned bathhouse. Both detainees had been subjected to beatings and had been tortured with electricity. Two months after the meeting (at the beginning of the summer of 2004), the applicant managed to personally speak with Mr Ya. Ge., who had told her that when he had been taken to the detention place Magomed Kudayev had been already there. The two men had been detained in an abandoned bathhouse for about a week or so. He and Magomed Kudayev had been subjected to beatings and to torture, and they had been handcuffed and blindfolded all the time. Their abductors had demanded that the men confess to membership in illegal armed groups. Mr Ya. Ge. had stated that both he and Magomed Kudayev had been abducted by servicemen from the Vostok battalion stationed in the Vedeno area. Sometime later, towards the end of November 2004, a female relative of the applicants met Mr Ya. Ge. He had told her that in August 2004 several young men had been abducted by the battalion’s servicemen but that one of them had been eventually released and had told him that in August 2004 he had been detained in the same detention cell as Magomed Kudayev in Vedeno. 78.     On 12 March 2007 the investigators questioned Mr Ya.Ge., who stated that in April 2004 he had been abducted from his house by unidentified men who had arrived in an UAZ vehicle. The abductors had put a mask over his head, had put him into the car, had driven for about an hour and a half and had arrived at “a base”. The witness had been taken to an abandoned bathhouse in the Vedeno district and had been handcuffed to a metal bar in a room measuring three by four square metres. Two days later he had been taken to another room in the basement, where he had been detained for four days with a young man named Magomed. During the detention both men had been handcuffed to pillars inside the room. Magomed had told the witness about his family in Grozny and that he had been a student at the Oil Institute. The abductors, who had been wearing masks, had beaten both detainees with bludgeons, rifle butts and tortured them with electricity. One of the abductors had had the call sign “ Beliy ” and he had been from Shali, Chechnya. During the beatings the abductors had questioned both detainees about members of illegal armed groups and about ammunition. After four days in detention the witness had been released. The abductors had threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the detention. Mr Ya. Ge. had not seen Magomed ever since. 79.     On the same date Mr Ya. Ge. identified Magomed-Emi Kudayev from a photograph as the man with whom he had been detained in the Vedeno district in the spring of 2004. 80.     On 13 March 2007 the investigators informed the second applicant about the results of the ballistics expert’s evaluation of the evidence carried out in the spring of 2004. 81.     On 14 March 2007 the investigators again questioned the first applicant, who stated that in the summer of 2004 she and the second applicant had gone to Grebenskaya, Chechnya, to meet with Mr Ya. Ge. He had told them that he had been detained with Magomed Kudayev for about six days in an abandoned bathhouse; that their abductors’ call signs had been Beliy , Tikhiy , Tigr and Bandit ; and that he had been released but Magomed had remained in detention. 82.     On 15 March 2007 the investigators requested that Operational ‑ Search Bureau no.   2 of the Ministry of the Interior in the Southern Federal Circuit ( ОРБ-2 ГУ МВД РФ по ЮФО ) (“ORB-2”) identify and summon for questioning the “former serviceman of the Vostok battalion with the call sign Beliy and residence in Shali”. 83.     On an unspecified date in March 2007 ORB-2 replied to the investigators that they were taking measures to identify the serviceman with the call sign Beliy . 84.     On 27 March 2007 the investigators questioned district police officer L.D., who stated that Magomed Kudayev had been abducted at about 4   a.m. on 28 March 2004 by unidentified men who had arrived in UAZ vehicles and who had spoken unaccented Chechen. 85.     On 1 April 2007 the investigators refused to open a criminal case against Ms “Tamila” because they had failed to identify her. The text of the decision included the following: “... a woman who had introduced herself as Tamila had told Ms Ya. Kudayeva [the second applicant] that she had been working at the Chechnya FSB and had then taken USD 5,000 from the applicant [to secure] the release of Magomed Kudayev. She had told the applicant that she would bring her son over in three days. ... the investigation was neither able to identify Tamila nor [ascertain whether] the unlawful acquisition of the applicant’s money by her [had taken place]...” 86.     On 2 April 2007 the investigators again suspended the investigation of the criminal case for failure to identify the perpetrators. 87.     On 1 May 2007 the Vedeno district department of the FSB informed the investigators that despite their operational-search measures the whereabouts of the former serviceman of the Vostok battalion with the call sign Beliy could not be established. 88.     On 20 July 2007 the supervising prosecutor overruled the decision to suspend the investigation, doing so on the basis of numerous “serious shortcomings” in the proceedings. The text of the decision included the following: “... the investigators should take the following steps: -     making a plan of the investigative steps to be taken; -     carrying out in full the orders given by the supervising prosecutor on 24 February 2007...; -     request that the ROVD identify the witnesses to the abduction from the residents of the nearby houses and organisations... question [the applicants’] neighbours... take measures to identify the perpetrators and establish Magomed Kudayev’s whereabouts; -     forward requests to district prosecutors’ offices in Chechnya to find out whether they opened criminal cases in connection with the discovery of a corpse with features similar to those of Magomed Kudayev; -     take other investigative measures ... in order to take a lawful and substantiated decision in [respect of] the criminal case...” 89.     On 20 July 2007 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 6 August 2007) the investigation in the criminal case was resumed and the applicants were informed about it. 90.     On 20 August 2007 the investigation in the criminal case was again suspended for failure to identify the perpetrators. The applicants appealed the suspension of the proceedings to the local court (see paragraphs 104 and 105 below). 91.     On 7 June 2008 the supervising prosecutor overruled the decision to suspend the investigation as “unlawful and premature” and ordered that the proceedings be resumed. The text of the decision included the following: “....it is necessary for the investigation to question the relatives of Mr Ya. Ge. about the circumstances of his abduction, detention and subsequent release... to eliminate contradictions in the information concerning the time of Magomed Kudayev’s abduction ... to request information concerning the abduction or detention of Mr Ya. Ge. from law-enforcement agencies in the Vedeno district ... to check whether federal and local databases of missing persons contain any information concerning Magomed Kudayev ... to take more active steps in order to identify the perpetrators of the abduction and verify whether servicemen of the Vostok battalion stationed in Vedeno were involved in the crime...” 92.     On 7 June 2008 the investigation in the criminal case was resumed. 93.     On 30 June 2008 the investigators forwarded a number of requests to various law-enforcement agencies in Chechnya, asking them to provide information concerning any possible detention of Magomed Kudayev on their premises, discovery of his corpse or any criminal proceedings pending against him. 94.     On 7 July 2008 the investigation in the criminal case was again suspended for failure to identify the perpetrators. 95.     On 9 December 2008 the supervising prosecutor again overruled the decision to suspend the investigation as “unlawful and premature” and ordered that the proceedings be resumed. The text of the decision stated that the investigators had failed to carry-out in full the orders given to them by the supervising prosecutor on 20 November 2008. 96.     On the same date the investigation in the criminal case was resumed. 97.     On 11 and 20 December 2008 the investigators requested that the ROVD assist them in carrying out the supervising prosecutors’ orders. 98.     On 8 January 2009 the investigation in the criminal case was again suspended for failure to identify the perpetrators. 99.     On 29 October 2009 the investigation was resumed until 29   November 2009. The investigators prepared a list of steps to be taken in order to solve the crime. 100.     According to the Government, the investigation has failed to establish the whereabouts of Magomed-Emi Kudayev or to identify the perpetrators of his abduction. The law-enforcement agencies of Chechnya never arrested or detained Magomed-Emi Kudayev on criminal or administrative charges and did not carry out a criminal investigation in his respect. No special operations were carried out in respect of the applicants’ relative. 101.     According to the documents submitted by the Government, the investigation was suspended and resumed on seven occasions. The supervising prosecutors had criticised the investigation’s deficiencies and had ordered a number of important steps to be taken without delay. 102.     According to the Government, the applicants had been duly informed of all decisions taken during the investigation. 103.     Despite a specific request by the Court, the Government did not disclose the full contents of criminal case file no.   30028, providing only “a part” of the documents amounting to 170 pages. The Government did not specify the reasons for their failure to provide the remaining documents. C.     Proceedings against the investigators 104.     On an unspecified date in March or April 2008 the second applicant complained of the ineffectiveness of the investigation of criminal case no.   30028 to the Leninskiy District Court in Grozny (“the District Court”). She stated that the investigators had suspended the investigation on 20   August 2007 without having taken a number of necessary investigative measures and requested that the investigation be resumed. 105.     On 25 April 2008 the District Court allowed the applicant’s complaint in full.   II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW 106.     For a summary of the relevant domestic law see Akhmadova and Sadulayeva v. Russia (no. 40464/02, §§   67-69, 10   May 2007). THE LAW I.     THE GOVERNMENT’S OBJECTION REGARDING NON ‑ EXHAUSTION OF DOMESTIC REMEDIES A.     The parties’ submissions 107.     The Government contended that the application should be declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. They submitted that the investigation of Magomed-Emi Kudayev’s abduction had not yet been completed. The Government further argued that it had been open to the applicants to challenge in court any acts or omissions of the investigators and to pursue civil remedies but that they had failed to do so. 108.     The applicants contested that objection. They stated that the criminal investigation had proved to be ineffective and that their complaints to that effect, including their complaint to the district court, had been futile. B.     The Court’s assessment 109.     The Court will examine the arguments of the parties in the light of the provisions of the Convention and its relevant practice (for a relevant summary, see Estamirov and Others v. Russia , no. 60272/00, §§ 73-74, 12   October 2006). 110.     The Court notes that the Russian legal system provides, in principle, two avenues of recourse for the victims of illegal and criminal acts attributable to the State or its agents, namely civil and criminal remedies. 111.     As regards a civil action to obtain redress for damage sustained through the alleged illegal acts or unlawful conduct of State agents, the Court has already found in a number of similar cases that this procedure alone cannot be regarded as an effective remedy in the context of claims brought under Article 2 of the Convention (see Khashiyev and Akayeva v.   Russia , nos.   57942/00 and 57945/00, §§   119-121, 24 February 2005, and Estamirov and Others , cited above, §   77). In the light of the above, the Court confirms that the applicants were not oblig