CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 5 juillet 2011

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display:inline-block } .s188AFEEA { width:192.97pt; display:inline-block } .sF2E32F9B { width:36.61pt; display:inline-block } .s5F32E900 { width:208.31pt; display:inline-block } .sE7C30868 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify } .sA6BC7FA7 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:right } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt }       FIRST SECTION             CASE OF VELKHIYEV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA   (Application no. 34085/06)               JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   5 July 2011   FINAL   08/03/2012   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision . In the case of Velkhiyev and Others v. Russia , The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Nina Vajić, President,   Anatoly Kovler,   Peer Lorenzen,   Elisabeth Steiner,   Khanlar Hajiyev,   George Nicolaou,   Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska, judges, and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 14 June 2011, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 34085/06) 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 seven Russian nationals, listed below (“the applicants”), on 15 August 2006. 2.     The applicants were represented by lawyers of the Memorial Human Rights Centre (Moscow) and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (London). 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 11 March 2009 the Court decided to apply Rule   41 of the Rules of Court and 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, Mr Bekhan Ulanovich Velkhiyev, Ms Rima Usamovna Velkhiyeva, Mr Ali Bashirovich Velkhiyev, Ms Kheda Bashirovna Velkhiyeva, Mr Dzhokhar Bashirovich Velkhiyev, Ms Marem Bashirovna Velkhiyeva and Ms Aminat Bashirovna Velkhiyeva, are Russian nationals who were born in 1965, 1961, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000 and 2002 respectively. The first applicant lives in Malgobek, Ingushetia; the second to seventh applicants live in the village of Barsuki, Ingushetia. A.     Detention and torture of the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. Death of Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. 6.     The first applicant is the brother of Mr Bashir Velkhiyev, born in 1963. The second applicant is the wife of Mr Bashir Velkhiyev and the third to seventh applicants are their children. 7.     The following account of the events submitted by the applicants was not contested by the Government, except for the alleged theft (see paragraph 15 below). 8.     On the evening of 19 July 2004 the first applicant came to the village of Barsuki to visit Mr Bashir Velkhiyev and his family, who lived at 6   Zapadnaya Street. The first applicant stayed at their house for the night. 9.     On 20 July 2004 the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev got up at 8   a.m. while the second applicant was making breakfast and the third to seventh applicants were playing in the yard. 10.     At approximately 8.30 a.m. the first and second applicants and Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev heard the children screaming and ran out into the yard. There they saw servicemen in camouflage uniform armed with automatic weapons who were jumping into the yard over the fence and coming through the gates. 11.     About thirty servicemen gathered in the yard. Most of them spoke Ingush, although three or four servicemen spoke Russian without an accent. Later it transpired that they were officers of the Ministry of the Interior. They had AK automatic rifles, sniper rifles and machine guns. The servicemen forced the children into a corner between two houses in the yard and held them there at gunpoint. 12.     Mr Bashir Velkhiyev asked the servicemen not to scare the children. He also told them that there were no criminals in his house. He said that they could enter and that there was no reason to be alarmed. The servicemen ordered the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev at gunpoint to face the wall and to raise their hands. Then one of the servicemen asked: “Who is the master of the house?” Mr Bashir Velkhiyev replied that he was. At the same time he asked the servicemen to present their identity documents as well as documents authorising their entry to his house. The servicemen did not reply and took Mr Bashir Velkhiyev at gunpoint out of the yard. 13.     The first applicant remained facing the wall. The servicemen who were still in the yard asked him for his passport. The first applicant gave his passport to a serviceman who must have been about thirty-five years old with short dark hair. He was dressed in camouflage uniform and spoke Russian with an accent. Having checked the first applicant’s passport the serviceman asked him where he lived and what his occupation was. Having heard the reply, the serviceman said: “You stay at home. We have no issues with you.” However, he did not return the passport to the first applicant. 14.     At the same time several servicemen searched the house. They had neither produced a search warrant nor called for witnesses. The second applicant tried to enter the house to take some money that was kept in a wardrobe. The servicemen did not let her enter the house. Then she told the first applicant that she was not being let into the house to take the money. The first applicant rushed into the house having pushed away one of the servicemen. There were five or six servicemen in the house. They asked the first applicant what was in several bags placed in the bedroom. He replied: “See for yourselves, there is nothing illegal there.” He also asked them whether they had a search warrant and why they did not draw up a report on the search and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s arrest. One of the servicemen, thirty ‑ five or forty years old and of heavy build with light-grey hair, replied to him in Ingush: “Get ready, everything will be explained to you there”. As the first applicant realised that they were going to detain him too, he approached the dark-haired serviceman and asked: “Why are you taking me, you said you had no issues with me?” The serviceman replied: “That Ingush took your passport from me. Sort it out with him.” The serviceman pointed at the officer who had ordered the first applicant to get ready. 15.     According to the applicants, after the servicemen left together with the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev, the second applicant discovered that they had taken money in the amount of 12,000 United States dollars (USD) and 40,000 roubles (RUB) that was kept in the wardrobe. The servicemen also took Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s mobile phone, twenty videotapes, fifteen audiotapes, Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s wallet with USD 600 and RUB 20,000 and the first applicant’s wallet with USD 400 and RUB 1,000. The Government contested the applicants’ account in this part. 16.     When he was taken out of the yard into the street, the first applicant saw a large number of servicemen, two khaki UAZ-452 vehicles (“Tabletka”) with no registration numbers, and a VAZ-2109 car. The first applicant was ordered to get into one of the UAZ vehicles, where he saw Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev sitting handcuffed with his shirt pulled over his head. One of the servicemen said to the others: “Let them sit together for the last time”. Then they handcuffed the first applicant and put a sports hat over his head which covered his eyes. Since the hat was transparent the first applicant could see the people in the vehicle. There were about eight or ten men and they spoke Ingush. 17.     When the UAZ vehicle moved, one of the servicemen said to the serviceman who was sitting opposite the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev: “Check if he has a strong head.” The serviceman then took a metal helmet, hit Mr Bashir Velkhiyev twice over the head with it and said that he did have a strong head. The other serviceman replied: “We shall see when we arrive.” 18.     In approximately ten minutes they arrived at the Organised Crime Unit ( УБОП ) at the Ministry of the Interior of Ingushetia in Nazran. The first applicant could see the building through the hat pulled over his eyes. He and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev were taken to an office on the second floor of the building to the left of the entrance. They remained handcuffed. 19.     There, officers of the Ministry of the Interior asked the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev their names, dates and places of birth. Then Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev was asked where such a large amount of money, USD   12,000, had come from. He slowly replied that he and the second applicant had saved it to buy a house. The officer hit him over the head and told him to reply faster. Mr Bashir Velkhiyev said that he would reply only in accordance with the legal procedure. Then officers hit him several times and said: “Let us start again”. They put the same questions again. Mr Bashir Velkhiyev did not reply. One of the officers then grabbed him and hit his head against the wall saying: “Are you deaf?” Mr Bashir Velkhiyev repeated that he would reply only in accordance with the legal procedure. The reply made the officers angry. One of them said that Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had not been beaten yet and that he should be worked over “in full”, whereas the first applicant should be worked over “upwards”. 20.     Then Mr Bashir Velkhiyev was taken out of the office. The first applicant heard the order: “To the left.” Then officers put a band over the hat pulled over the first applicant’s eyes so that he could no longer see anything. They took off his handcuffs and instead placed on his hands a device which, according to the officers, did not leave bruises. They said, laughing, that it had been made especially for him. 21.     First the officers asked the first applicant where he had been on the night of 21 to 22 June 2004 when rebel fighters had attacked Ingushetia. He replied that he had been ill at home that night, as could be confirmed by his relatives. Then they asked him about a certain paper which they alleged he had written. The first applicant said that he had never written such a paper and that this could easily be checked by comparing handwriting if they untied his hands and provided him with a pen and paper. Then the officers hit the first applicant’s head against the wall, kicked him in the groin and hit him over the ears. They said: “This is to bring you back to your senses. Don’t try to be smart with us, we are just kidding to make you cooperate with us. For information on those who participated in the attack you’ll get a car, money and [the right to] move freely in the whole of Russia.” They also asked him which “Wahhabis” he knew in Ingushetia. He replied that he was not a “Wahhabi” but an entrepreneur. 22.     The officers again suggested that he cooperate with them and threatened him with “beating his genitals so that he could not have children” and “impaling him while video recording it”. They asked him to tell them about his relatives. The first applicant replied that he had nothing to tell. Then one of them said: “So you don’t want it in a good way?” and, addressing the other servicemen, ordered: “Bring him ‘upwards’.” The officers then started to beat him again. According to the first applicant, he was mainly beaten by officers commissioned from Russia. 23.     In a while the first applicant was taken to a different office where the beating continued. The officers beat him with rubber truncheons and said that it was just the beginning. They also threatened him with five years’ imprisonment. 24.     After the beating the first applicant was picked up from the floor and led to yet another office. There the officers said that he was aggravating his situation and that he now risked ten to fifteen years’ imprisonment. They also said that if he offended them he would leave with a first-degree disability, but if they were nice to him, only with a second-degree disability. The officers then placed the first applicant on his stomach, raised his legs and, while holding him in this position, kicked him on the spine and applied an electric current. They spilled water on his groin and then placed electric wires there. Because of the electric shock the first applicant fainted. 25.     According to the first applicant, the officers were laughing while torturing him. At the same time, he could hear awful screams from other offices where, apparently, people were also being tortured. 26.     When the first applicant recovered consciousness, an officer who spoke Russian without an accent asked him whether he was going to work in the law-enforcement agencies. The first applicant replied that he had wanted to work in the law-enforcement agencies, but after what they had done to him and having heard what they did to others he no longer wanted to. 27.     Then the officer took the first applicant into the corridor and removed the device placed on his hands. However, he left the hat over his eyes. Then a different officer led the first applicant to the first floor and brought him to a cell. He said: “Do not remove the hat until I leave.” As soon as he left, the first applicant took off the hat and saw another officer of small stature, who told him to enter the cell. In the cell there was another detainee of approximately fifty years of age. In a while a third detainee was placed in the cell. He said that he was from the village of Troitskaya. 28.     Later in the day the officer of small stature put a sports hat and black plastic bag on the first applicant’s head and took him out of the cell. He was then taken out of the building and put in a car. In the car he fainted because of the injuries sustained earlier. When he recovered consciousness, he heard one of the officers, who was talking on the phone, saying: “We have arrived”. Then another officer said to the first applicant: “If you take off the bag in less than ten minutes, your brain will be blown up.” Then he added: “I have almost forgotten, your brother Bashir is in Vladikavkaz. He must have quite a reputation to be there.” The officer then closed the door of the car. The first applicant also heard the doors of another car closing and the car moving away. He realised that the officers had left him and that he was alone in the car. 29.     The first applicant removed the hat and the plastic bag from his head and fainted again. When he recovered consciousness he heard some people talking in Ingush. A few men approached the car, opened the door and told him to get out of the car with his hands raised. The men appeared to be officers of the Nazran Department of the Interior ( ГОВД ). Although the first applicant told them that he could not walk and needed medical assistance, they refused to either call an ambulance or inform his relatives about his whereabouts. They took him to the Department of the Interior and placed him in a cell, having said that they would “sort it out” the next morning. 30.     At approximately 8.10 a.m. the next day investigator A. of the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office took the first applicant out of the cell. Investigator A. introduced himself and told the first applicant that Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had died. He had not survived the torture by officers of the Ministry of the Interior commissioned from Russia. According to investigator A., as soon as the relatives of the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had informed him of the men’s detention, he had tried to find them as he was concerned for their lives, since officers commissioned from Russia treated detainees very cruelly. However, officers of the Ministry of the Interior of Ingushetia, giving various excuses, had refused to let him meet the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. When he had learned from his colleagues that Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev was indeed being held on the premises of the Organised Crime Unit, he had immediately gone there. However, Mr Bashir Velkhiyev was already dead. Having questioned officers of the Organised Crime Unit, he had obtained information about the first applicant’s detention. However, he had not found him that night. In the morning, having learned of the first applicant’s whereabouts from police reports, investigator A. had come to see him at the Nazran Department of the Interior. 31.     Investigator A. told the first applicant that he had been to the morgue and had seen Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s body. He then took the first applicant to the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office, where he told him that Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had died in office no. 17 of the Organised Crime Unit at the Ministry of the Interior of Ingushetia because of the torture inflicted by officers of the Ministry. Having obtained the necessary documents from the prosecutor’s office, the first applicant went to the morgue. He took Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev’s body to the village of Barsuki. 32.     On 21 July 2004 the first applicant and two other relatives of Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev took his body to Vladikavkaz for a second forensic examination. His body was first examined by forensic experts shortly after his death (see paragraph 42 below). 33.     According to forensic report no. 464 of 21 July 2004, the following injuries were found on Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s body: (i) multiple bruises to the outer corner of the right eye, the nose, the forehead, the back of the head extending to the right ear, the right side of the thorax, the left shoulder, the left forearm, the left wrist joint, the back of the left hand, the index finger of the left hand, the right shoulder, the right elbow joint, the right forearm, the right wrist joint, the shoulder blades, the hips, the lower legs and the tops of the feet; (ii) a single abrasion to each wrist joint; (iii) a single haemorrhage on the upper and the lower lip; (iv) a contused wound to the upper lip and (v) a puncture wound to the thorax. The bruises, the haemorrhages and the contused wound had been caused by multiple blows with hard, cylindrical blunt objects such as rubber truncheons. The abrasions to the wrist joints were most likely caused by handcuffs. The puncture wound must have been caused by a syringe. The injuries had been caused within the twenty-four hours preceding death. According to the report, the most probable cause of death was cardiovascular collapse. 34.     On the evening of 21 July 2004, having returned from Vladikavkaz, Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev’s relatives buried him in the family cemetery in the village of Sredniye Achaluki. B.     Search for the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev and applications to the State authorities. 35.     According to the applicants, at 11.30 a.m. on 20 July 2004, approximately two hours after the detention of the first applicant and Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev, the second applicant went to the Ministry of the Interior of Ingushetia in Nazran. Officers on duty at the reception desk refused to accept her application. They sent her to the security desk at the entrance and ordered her to get a pass there to enter the building. 36.     At the security desk the second applicant explained that she needed a pass in order to submit an application concerning the unlawful detention of her relatives. The officer on duty at the security desk told her that “the bosses had forbidden staff to issue passes” and advised her to apply to the Nazran Department of the Interior. 37.     At 12.30 p.m. the second applicant applied in person to the Nazran Department of the Interior. However, the officers in charge refused to accept her application. They said that neither the first applicant nor Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had been brought to the Department of the Interior. Having insulted the second applicant, they ordered her to leave the premises immediately. 38.     The second applicant returned to the Ministry of the Interior of Ingushetia. The same officers again refused to accept her application. However, one of them sent her to the Organised Crime Unit. He showed her the entrance to the Unit, which was within fifteen to twenty metres of the main entrance to the Ministry of the Interior, and said that the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev were there. He also told the second applicant that they were being held by Russians who had been specially commissioned to Ingushetia and added: “God help them”. 39.     The second applicant was not let into the Organised Crime Unit. Officers ordered her to return home and said that neither the first applicant nor Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev was being held there. She then went to the village of Sredniye Achaluki to see Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s relatives and tell them about the events. 40.     On 21 July 2004, after the first applicant had been released and it had become known that Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had died, their relatives applied to the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office seeking the institution of criminal proceedings against officers of the Organised Crime Unit for torture and for Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s murder. The applicants did not retain copies of their first applications. They re-submitted the applications a number of times later. C.     Official investigation 41.     On 20 July 2004 the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office issued a notice for entry in the Crime Register ( Книга учета сообщений о преступлениях ) stating that, according to a telephone call received at approximately 4.35   p.m. on that date, the body of Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had been found in office no. 17 of the Organised Crime Unit at the Ministry of the Interior of Ingushetia, after Mr Velkhiyev had been brought there in order to give certain explanations. The notice also stated that an inquiry was being conducted into the events. 42.     On the same date the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office ordered a forensic examination of Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s body. According to forensic report no. 91 of 20 July 2004, there were numerous bruises on the body; death had occurred two to four hours before the examination and was caused by traumatic shock as a result of the injuries. 43.     On 21 July 2004 the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office ordered an investigation into the death of Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. 44.     On 23 July 2004 the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office ordered a medical examination of the first applicant. According to forensic report no. 397 of the same date, the first applicant had the following injuries: large bruises measuring 19 x 22 cm and 18   x   17   cm on the back at the level of the thorax and on the shoulder blades; a bruise measuring 13 x 2 cm below the right shoulder blade; numerous subcutaneous wounds, abrasions ranging from 0.5   cm to 1.5 cm in length and bruises near the seventh cervical vertebra, and seven similar areas in the interscapular and lumbar regions (traces of surface notches with subsequent application of cupping glasses for bloodletting); multiple small haemorrhages on the back of the left hand; a partially healed abrasion on the back of the right hand; haematomas on the buttocks extending to the hips measuring 21 x 18 cm and 17   x   10 cm; four similar haematomas on both hips and the back of the knees ranging in size from 10 x 8 cm to 12   x 7 cm; similar multiple haematomas on the lower right leg measuring around 20   x   11   cm; a haematoma measuring 12 x 8 cm and swelling to the sole of the right foot. It was also stated that the mobility of the ankle was limited and that the first applicant complained of pain in his back and scrotum. The expert recommended consulting a urologist, a neuropathologist and a traumatologist. 45.     On the same date the first applicant was examined by two other doctors. It appears that they were a traumatologist and a neuropathologist. According to the relevant entries in his medical file, the first applicant had large haematomas on the buttocks, hips and shoulder blades; eight traces of application of an electric current on the shoulder blades and some on the hands; traces of blows on his hands and the soles of his feet and bruising to the forehead. The doctors stated that the injuries had been caused by beating and by the application of an electric current. They also stated that the first applicant had brain concussion and limited mobility of all his joints. 46.     On 30 July 2004 the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office decided to institute an investigation (no.   04560079) into the death of Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. It is not clear how this decision related to the previous decision of 21   July 2004 on the institution of an investigation. 47.     On 4 and 6 August 2004 the first applicant was again examined by a medical expert. Having regard to the previous examination on 23 July 2004 and to the entries in the applicant’s medical file the expert concluded that the abrasions and subcutaneous wounds had been caused by notches made for bloodletting five to seven days before the first applicant’s detention. All the other injuries had been caused by multiple blows by a hard object or objects two to three days before the examination on 23 July 2004. 48.     On 18 August 2004 the first applicant was questioned and granted victim status in case no. 04560079. He confirmed his account of the events of 20-21 July 2004 as set out in the preceding paragraphs. 49.     On the same date investigator A. of the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office examined the Organised Crime Unit’s register. It contained no entries concerning the first applicant or Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. 50.     On 24 August 2004 investigator A. of the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office questioned the second applicant. She made a statement in line with the account of the events set out in the preceding paragraphs. She also stated that she knew her husband had been beaten to death by police officers although she did not know the names of those responsible. 51.     On 25 August 2004 investigator A. of the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office questioned Ms A.Ts., Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s neighbour. Ms A.Ts. stated that at approximately 8.30 a.m. on 20 July 2004 she had seen the first applicant and Mr Bashir Velkhiyev being taken away from the latter’s house by officers in camouflage uniform, put in a car and driven away. On the following day she had learnt that Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had been murdered. 52.     On the same date investigator A. of the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office questioned Ms L.Ts., Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s neighbour, who stated that at approximately 8.30 a.m. on 20 July 2004 her daughter-in-law had told her that police officers had stormed Bashir’s house. She had then tried to go into the yard, but officers in camouflage uniforms and masks had been standing near the gates and had not let her pass. She had then taken the children out through the garden and had come back. Through a hole in the gates Ms   L.Ts. could see Mr Bashir Velkhiyev being put into a car. Then the officers had left and the second applicant had told her that they had taken Mr Bashir Velkhiyev and the first applicant, who had come for a visit, after promising to bring them back in two hours. Ms L.Ts. did not know who the officers were and she could not see their faces since they were wearing masks. On the following day she had learned that Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had been murdered. 53.     Also on 25 August 2004 officer M. of the Organised Crime Unit was questioned. He submitted that he had been working at the Unit since 2000. Since 2001 he had been responsible for the provision of arms, receipt of information and organisation of field missions. Usually he remained on duty for twenty-four hours, after which he stayed at home for forty-eight hours. On 20 July 2004 officer M. had taken up duty at 8.30 a.m. On that date officer G., officer T. and officer Tut. had also been on duty. At 9 a.m. officers of the federal units of the Ministry of the Interior deployed in Ingushetia brought two detainees with black bags on their heads to the Organised Crime Unit. The officers were wearing masks and gave no information about the detainees, promising to provide it later. Officer M. made no entries in the register at that time. After waiting until 10 a.m., he asked the officers to provide him with the information concerning the detainees. They replied that they would obtain explanations from the latter and forward them to officer M. later. He did not know who the officers were, they were wearing camouflaged uniform. Officer M. also submitted that after the events of 21-22 June 2004 officers of the federal units were regularly stationed at the Organised Crime Unit. They would bring people there and question them. At approximately 1.40 p.m. on 20 July 2004 officer M. heard a loud noise on the staircase. After leaving his post, he saw two officers of the federal units lifting a man in dark clothes with a bag on his head. He asked them what was going on. They replied that the man had slipped on the stairs and fallen down. Having lifted him, they took the man upstairs. At approximately 2.50 p.m. the officers of the federal units left for a field mission, having informed officer M. that they had to fetch one more person who was an accomplice of those already brought to the Organised Crime Unit. At around 3 p.m. the officers returned. At 3.20 p.m. B., the Deputy Head of the Organised Crime Unit, called officer M. and told him to call an ambulance, which he did immediately. At 3.40   p.m. the ambulance arrived and, together with the doctors, officer M. went to the second floor and entered office no. 17. In the office medical assistant Kh. and Deputy Head B. were providing first aid to a man lying on the floor. The man, Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev as officer M. learned later, died before the arrival of the doctors, who pronounced him dead of heart failure. Then the doctors left and an investigative unit from the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office arrived. In the evening the officers of the federal units arrived back at the Organised Crime Unit and took away the other detainee. As officer M. learned later, the detainee was the first applicant. Officer M. stated that he did not know who the officers were or to which particular unit they belonged. According to him, the officers of the federal units deployed in the Organised Crime Unit changed constantly and he was not personally acquainted with any of them. He did not know which officers had taken part in the detention of the first applicant and Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev either. He had not witnessed any beating or other forms of ill-treatment. He did not know where exactly the first applicant had been held, but assumed that it was somewhere on the first floor. 54.     Officer G. of the Organised Crime Unit, questioned on the same date, made a statement similar to that of officer M. as regards the events of 20 July 2004, except that he had seen neither the detainees nor those who had brought them to the Organised Crime Unit. He had learned from officer M. that there had been a dead body on the Unit premises. 55.     Officer T. of the Organised Crime Unit, questioned on the same date, made a statement similar to that of officer G. as regards the events of 20   July 2004. 56.     On the same date investigator A. questioned medical assistant Kh. She submitted that she had been working as a medical assistant at the Organised Crime Unit since 2003 and was responsible for providing police officers with first aid. On 20 July 2004 at around 4 p.m. Deputy Head B. called her and asked her to examine a man in office no. 17. As she learned later, the man was Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. Having entered the office, she spoke to Mr Bashir Velkhiyev, who was sitting on a chair. He was dressed and had no visible injuries. He said that he was feeling weakness and pain in his chest. Medical assistant Kh. left to fetch a blood pressure monitor. Then she took Mr Bashir Velkhiyev’s blood pressure, which was 100/80. She gave him an injection of No-spa, but the weakness remained. After ten minutes she again took his blood pressure, which was 70/50. She gave the patient an injection of caffeine and recommended Deputy Head B. to call an ambulance, which he did immediately. Then they put Mr Bashir Velkhiyev on the floor and medical assistant Kh. and another officer started to perform indirect massage and artificial respiration. However, despite their efforts Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev died. The ambulance arrived approximately ten minutes later. Medical assistant Kh. submitted that she did not know why Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had been brought to the Organised Crime Unit. He had not told her that he had been ill-treated. She did not know whether his brother had been detained as well. She also stated that, since the events of 21-22 June 2004, officers of the federal units were regularly stationed at the Organised Crime Unit. However, she had no contacts with them. 57.     Officer Tut. of the Organised Crime Unit, questioned on 26   August   2004, made a statement similar to that of officer G. as regards the events of 20 July 2004. 58.     On 30 August 2004 investigator A. questioned officer B., the Deputy Head of the Organised Crime Unit. The latter submitted that he occupied office no.   20 on the second floor. Across from him was office no. 17, which belonged to the Second Department of the Organised Crime Unit, headed by officer A. On 20 July 2004 at approximately 5 a.m. he left with other officers to conduct operations aimed at the detention of those responsible for the events of 21-22 June 2004. First they went to Troitskaya village, then to Karabulak and then to Barsuki. There, he and some other officers entered the yard of the Velkhiyevs’ house. They cordoned off the yard while officers of the federal units entered the house. The latter apprehended Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev and the first applicant, put them into a UAZ vehicle and took them away. He and other officers went on to other villages to continue the operations. At around 3 p.m. Deputy Head B. returned to the Organised Crime Unit in order to draft a report on the operations conducted. At approximately 3.10 p.m. officers told him that in office no. 17 there was a man with a black bag on his head and that officers of the federal units who had “worked with him” had left to search for his accomplice. Then Deputy Head B. entered office no. 17 and saw a man with a black bag on his head lying on the floor. As he learned later, the man was Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. He removed the bag from his head and asked him who he was. The man replied that he had slipped and fallen on the stairs, and asked for water. He had no visible injuries. Deputy Head B. made him some tea and called for medical assistant Kh. Having taken his blood pressure and given an injection, she gave instructions to call an ambulance, which was done. When the ambulance arrived at approximately 3.40 p.m., Mr Bashir Velkhiyev was already dead. Immediately afterwards, Deputy Head B. called the investigative group of the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office. He did not know which officers of the federal units had detained Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. He did not know them personally since they had been stationed at the Organised Crime Unit after the events of 21-22 June 2004. Deputy Head B. did not know either where the first applicant had been held or whether Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev or the first applicant had been subjected to ill ‑ treatment by officers of the federal units. Neither he nor any officers of the Organised Crime Unit had subjected them to ill-treatment. 59.     On 3 September 2004 investigator A. questioned officer A., the head of the Second Department of the Organised Crime Unit. Officer A. stated that on 20 July 2004 he had arrived at the Organised Crime Unit at 8.45   a.m. He had neither left for any operation that morning nor sent his officers out. Around lunchtime he received information about a landmine at a market in Nazran and left for there with his officers. After returning to the Organised Crime Unit at around 4 p.m., he learned that a man had died in office no.   17 after being brought there by officers of the federal units in order to provide explanations. However, officer A. did not know by whom and when exactly the man had been brought there or whether his brother had been apprehended with him. Office no. 17 had been damaged as a result of the events of 21-22 June 2004. Since then it had been mainly used by officers of the federal units; however, officer A. did not know by whom exactly. 60.     Between 10 September and 18 October 2004 investigator A. questioned seven officers of the Organised Crime Unit: officer Ar., officer   Ch., officer Das., officer Dol., officer Dz., officer Mach. and officer   O. They stated that on 20 July 2004 they had heard that a man brought in for questioning by officers of the federal units had died in office no. 17. However, they did not know who the man was or the names of the officers who had brought him to the Organised Crime Unit. 61.     On 27 December 2004 the investigation was suspended for failure to identify those responsible. 62.     On 14 January 2005 the Ministry of the Interior of Ingushetia drafted a report on the internal inquiry concerning the death of Mr Bashir Velkhiyev. The report incorporated the above statements of the officers of the Organised Crime Unit and concluded that Mr Bashir Velkhiyev had died of natural causes. 63.     On 14 March 2005 the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office resumed the investigation. 64.     On 18 March 2005 officer Dar. and on 29 March 2005 officer Bek., both of the Organised Crime Unit, were questioned. They stated that they had learned from internal reports that a man had died on 20 July 2004. However, they had not known that Mr Bashir Velkhiyev and the first applicant had been brought to the Organised Crime Unit or exactly which officers of the federal units had been stationed at the Unit at the relevant time. 65.     On 24 March 2005 the second applicant was granted victim status in criminal case no. 04560079. She was questioned on the same date and confirmed her earlier statement. 66.     On 1 April 2005 the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office ordered a forensic medical examination aimed at establishing the character and gravity of the injuries sustained by Mr Bashir Velkhiyev and whether his death had been a result of the said injuries. The order stated that on 20 July 2004 unidentified officials of the Ministry of the Interior had unlawfully apprehended Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev and the first applicant and taken them to the Organised Crime Unit where, acting in abuse of their official authority, they had subjected the detainees to violence. As a result, Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev had died in office no. 17 of the Organised Crime Unit. It was further noted in the order that, according to forensic expert report no. 91 of 20 July 2004, Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev’s death had been caused by traumatic shock as a result of the injuries he had sustained. 67.     According to forensic report no. 37 of 21 April 2005, Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev had the following injuries: (1)     multiple extensive bruises to the chest and the back at chest height; (2)     multiple bruises to the head and upper extremities; (3)     multiple extensive bruises to the knee joints extending to the shin, followed by oedema of the soft tissues and considerable swelling of the right knee joint and the lower right leg; extensive bruising to the right hip extending to the buttock; bruises to the tops of the feet; (4)     circular bruises with abrasions of the wrists; (5)     puncture wounds to the right buttock (from injections); (6)     oedema of the brain; (7)     loss of blood from the surface of the lung tissue and decrease in lung volume; (8)     uneven blood flow to the cardiac muscle. The injuries described at (1), (2) and (3) had been caused by multiple blows with a hard blunt object or objects which had a long cylindrical shape, possibly a truncheon. The injuries described in (4) had most likely been caused by handcuffs. The pathological changes to the internal organs described in (6), (7) and (8) were the result of the traumatic shock caused by the injuries described. Taking into account the location of the bruises and the depth of the lesions which had led to the traumatic shock, confirmed by the oedema of the brain, the decrease in lung volume and the uneven blood flow to the internal organs, all the injuries described in (1), (2), (3), (6), (7) and (8) were to be characterised as serious and life-threatening. All the injuries could have been caused at the time and in the circumstances described in the order. The cause of Mr   Bashir Velkhiyev’s death was traumatic shock as a result of the injuries sustained. There was a direct causal link between the injuries and his death. 68.     On 2 April 2005 officer E. of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Nazran Department of the Interior was questioned. He stated that on 20 July 2004 he had been on duty with officer T-v. At approximately 8 p.m. they received a call about a suspicious white car. They left and found a white VAZ 2107 at the described location. They called out but nobody answered. Then they approached the car and saw a man lying on the floor by the back seat. The man had either a mask or a bag on his head. They then opened the door, put him on the seat and removed the bag or the mask. They asked his identity and what he was doing there. He answered that he had been brought there several hours earlier by policemen who had told him not to move. He said that his name was Belkhan Velkhiyev and that he and his brother, Bashir Velkhiyev, had been apprehended and detained at the Organised Crime Unit by officers wearing camouflage uniforms and masks who spoke unaccented Russian. Then officers E. and T-v. put the man in the UAZ vehicle and took him to the Nazran Department of the Interior. 69.     Officers Mer. and Gor. of the Nazran Department of the Interior, questioned on 5 and 7 April 2005 respectively, stated that on 20 July 2004 they had received information about a suspicious white car and had reported the information. 70.     On 11 April 2005 officer A-v., Head of Department of the Ingushetia Ministry of the Interior, was questioned. He stated that on 20 July 2004, following a call concerning a suspicious white car, he and other officers had gone to inspect the car. The first applicant had been found in the car. 71.     Officer Kh., Head of the Investigations Department of the Ingushetia Ministry of the Interior, questioned on 13 April 2005, provided no relevant information. 72.     On 18 April 2005 the first applicant was again questioned. He confirmed his earlier statement and provided some additional information. 73.     On 24 April 2005 the Nazran Prosecutor’s Office adjourned the criminal proceedings in case no. 04560079 for failure to identify the culprits. 74.     On 30 May 2005 the investigation was resumed. 75.     On 9 June 2005 the first applicant wrote to the Public Prosecutor of Ingushetia asking him to provide information on the course of the investigation and to assi