CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 31 juillet 2012

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margin-left:17.3pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s60723A49 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:39.7pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s81CCF55C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:17pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify } .s48DB3670 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:36pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s31E56244 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:12pt; 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 } .s88A92475 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid }     FIRST SECTION             CASE OF MAKHASHEVY v. RUSSIA   (Application no. 20546/07)                 JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   31 July 2012   FINAL   17/12/2012     This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Makhashevy v. Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Nina Vajić, President,   Anatoly Kovler,   Peer Lorenzen,   Khanlar Hajiyev,   Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska,   Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos,   Erik Møse, judges, and Søren Nielsen, Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 10 July 2012, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 20546/07) 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 three Russian nationals listed below (“the applicants”), on 30 April 2007. 2.     The applicants were represented by lawyers of Open Society Justice Initiative, an NGO practising in Budapest, and by Russian lawyers Mr   V.   Luzhin, practising in Nizhniy Novgorod, and Mr I. Timishev, practising in Nalchik. The third applicant died on 13 July 2008. The other applicants expressed their wish to pursue the application on his behalf. Having regard to the circumstances of the case the Court accepts that the first and second applicants, who are the brothers of the third applicant, may pursue the application on his behalf. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr   G.   Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights. 3.     Referring to Articles 3, 5, 13 and 14 of the Convention the applicants alleged that they had been unlawfully detained and subjected to ill-treatment by the police on account of their ethnic origin and that the authorities had failed to conduct an investigation into their allegations of racially-motivated ill-treatment. 4.     On 19 November 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. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 5.     The applicants are: 1) Mr Ibragim Makhashev, who was born in 1972, 2) Mr Adam Makhashev, who was born in 1974, and 3) Mr Islam Makhashev, who was born in 1979. The applicants are brothers. The first and the second applicants live in Nalchik. Prior to his death in July 2008 the third applicant also lived there. The cause of the third applicant’s death is not relevant to the present case. A.     Ill-treatment of the applicants and subsequent events 1.     Information submitted by the applicants (a)     Events of the evening of 14 November 2004 6.   The applicants are ethnic Chechens. They were born in Grozny and lived there until the armed hostilities between Russian military forces and Chechen fighters destroyed their house in October 1996. The applicants moved to Nalchik, the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, a Russian region neighbouring Chechnya. 7.     In the early evening of 14 November 2004 the first and the second applicants went to a night club (the documents submitted also referred to the establishment as a concert hall). They had an argument there with Mr   M.   Sh., who was also an ethnic Chechen, and friends of his. As a result, Mr M. Sh. stabbed the first applicant in the buttocks. A security guard, Mr   A. Ku., who was an ethnic Kabardinian, was also lightly stabbed either by Mr   M. Sh. or one of his friends. The conflict was resolved without police intervention. Mr M.Sh. and his friends then left the club. Someone called the police and reported the stabbing, saying that a Chechen had stabbed a Kabardinian security guard at the club. 8.     After 7 p.m. the first and second applicants left the club. Just a few blocks away they were stopped by several policemen who had apparently been waiting for them. The first applicant tried to explain to them that he had been wounded and needed medical assistance, but the officers disregarded his explanations; they did not ask for the applicants’ identity documents either. According to the applicants, the policemen detained them based on the information that a Chechen had stabbed a Kabardinian at the night club. The second applicant managed to call the third applicant and inform him about their arrest. The first and second applicants were immediately put in the police patrol car and taken to the 2nd Town Department of the Interior (the GOM-2) in Nogmov Street, Nalchik, where they arrived at about 8 p.m. The officers took them to two different rooms on the third floor of the police station. No documents were drawn up by the policemen before or after the applicants were taken to the police station. (b)     Ill-treatment of the first applicant and subsequent events 9.     The first applicant was taken to a room in which there were a number of police officers, including two officers from the criminal search division, Mr M. Al. and Mr Z. Ar., and the head of the criminal search division, Mr   A. Bo. All the officers were either ethnic Kabardinians or Balkars. The policemen pulled the applicant’s jacket over his head, knocked him off his feet and started to kick him. One of them struck the applicant with a rifle butt in the face, causing him to lose consciousness. When the applicant regained consciousness, the officers continued to beat him, shouting racist remarks and insulting him on account of his Chechen ethnicity: “You Chechens are all faggots. Why did you come over here? Go back to Chechnya ...” 10.     After that the policemen took the first applicant to an adjacent office where he saw the second applicant, who was bleeding on the floor, and officers M. Al. and A. Bo. kicking him. The first applicant was taken back to the office and was subjected to further beating. The applicant told the policemen that he would complain about the ill-treatment. In response, officer A.Bo. told him that he was a relative of the Republican Minister of the Interior and that even if he were to kill the applicant or his brother, he would not be held responsible for killing a Chechen. 11.     At about 11 p.m. the first applicant was taken to another office, where officer M. Al. showed him the statements of the club’s staff, according to which neither the first nor the second applicants were responsible for stabbing the security guard. During the applicant’s conversation with the officer, another policeman, who was in camouflage uniform, struck the applicant in the back with a rifle butt and the applicant passed out again. Upon regaining consciousness, the applicant noticed that he was bleeding in the mouth and asked the officers to provide him with medical assistance; he reminded them that he was not responsible for the stabbing and that he would complain to the authorities about the ill ‑ treatment. Officer M. Al. replied: “If you or your brother try to complain, we will kill you right here. We will not be held responsible for a Chechen”. After that the beating continued. 12.     Several minutes later officer M. Al. brought a medical doctor to the office. She looked at the applicant, but refused to examine him and explained to the officers that he needed urgent hospitalisation. The officers refused to let him go and the doctor left the room. 13.     At about midnight the first applicant heard the third applicant screaming. Through the door, which was ajar, he saw three police officers dragging with them the third applicant, who had arrived at the police station after receiving the second applicant’s phone call about the arrest. 14.     The first applicant pleaded with the policemen not to beat the third applicant. In response they continued to beat the first applicant, insult him and his ethnicity by calling him and his brothers “Chechen faggots” and threatening to sexually assault him. 15.     After midnight the first and the third applicants were released from the police station. Their relatives were waiting for them outside. The two applicants went to the Nalchik town prosecutor’s office (hereafter “the town prosecutor’s office”). The second applicant was already there. They described what had happened to them to the on-duty investigator, Mr Em., and lodged an official complaint. The second applicant’s wife, Ms S.G., tried to dissuade the applicants from lodging a complaint by saying that the deputy town prosecutor, Mr M. Tkh., had spoken to her and asked her to convince her relatives not to lodge any complaints: “I know that the Makhashev brothers are going to lodge a complaint. You have to make sure that they change their minds as it will get worse for them. They will not succeed ...” 16.     According to the first applicant, a Chechen police officer from the North-Caucasus Department of the Fight against Organised Crime (the RUBOP), Mr A.R., visited the police station on the evening of 14   November 2004 and learnt of the applicants’ ill-treatment. He informed the applicants’ relatives about it and at a later date provided statements to the investigation (see paragraph 68 below). (c)     Ill-treatment of the second applicant 17.     Upon arrival at the police station the second applicant was taken to a separate room where the police officers ordered him to empty his pockets. The applicant put his belongings on the table. After that, without providing any explanation, the policemen started kicking him and beating him with truncheons. Other officers entered the room from time to time, and asked: “A Chechen?” and joined in with the beating. The officers kept insulting the applicant and his ethnicity by saying: “You fucking Chechens, we will fuck you now ...” 18.     During the beating the applicant lost consciousness several times. He told the officers that he had a gastric ulcer and pleaded with them not to hit him in the stomach. After that the policemen intentionally tried to hit him there. The head of the criminal search division, officer A. Bo., also participated in the ill-treatment of the second applicant. When the applicant told him that he would complain about the ill-treatment to the authorities, the latter responded: “You are a Chechen. I can kill you right now and nothing will happen to me. My uncle is the Republican Minister of the Interior”. The applicant heard the first applicant being beaten in the adjacent room. The second applicant bled; as a result, the office floor was covered in his blood. 19.     At some point later the policemen took the second applicant to another room, and gave him back some of the belongings which had been confiscated from him earlier. 20.     Subsequently, the officers took the second applicant outside. A number of his relatives, including his wife, Ms S.G., her sister, Ms A.K., his uncle, I., his nephew, Dzh. and the third applicant were waiting on the porch of the police station. When they saw the second applicant, who was bleeding and whose clothes were torn, the third applicant asked the policemen why his brother had been ill-treated. The officers immediately grabbed the third applicant and dragged him into the building (see below). They hit Ms S.G., who had tried to intervene, in the stomach and she fainted. (d)     Ill-treatment of the third applicant 21.     At about 7 p.m. on 14 November 2004 the third applicant received a phone call from the second applicant, who told him that he and the first applicant had been arrested by the police following an incident in a club. 22.     At about 9 p.m. the third applicant and his relatives went to the GOM-2 in Nogmov Street and the third applicant inquired whether his brothers had been brought there. The on-duty officer confirmed that they had, and told him that his brothers were being questioned. The officer did not allow him to enter the police station, so the applicant, Ms S.G., Ms   A.K., and his nephew Dzh. remained outside waiting for the release of the first and second applicants. 23.     At about 11 p.m. two policemen dragged the second applicant outside. He had been severely beaten, his clothes were torn and he was barely recognisable. The third applicant asked the officers why his brother had been ill-treated. One of them responded: “Are you also a Chechen? Get the fuck out of here”. Several other policemen, including officer Z.Ar., then came out on the porch, beat the third applicant with their rifle butts and kicked him, grabbed him by his hair and dragged him inside; they took him to the third floor of the building. One of the officers was in police uniform, while another wore camouflage clothing. The rest of them were in civilian clothing, as they belonged to the criminal search division. 24.     While being dragged along the third floor, the third applicant noticed the first applicant, who looked as if he had been brutally beaten, in one of the offices. The third applicant was taken to the adjacent office, where he was beaten and kicked by at least five policemen, who insulted him and his ethnic background by saying: “You Chechens are faggots... Get the fuck out of here back to Chechnya ... ” 25.     The policemen spoke Kabardinian to each other. The applicant, who also spoke the language, concluded that all of them were Kabardinians. None of the officers asked for the applicant’s identity documents or asked him any questions at any time. 26.     Sometime later the third applicant was taken to the office of the head of the criminal search division, officer A. Bo., who told him, along with other officers: “We hate all of you Chechens. We are not going to let you live here. We will fuck all of you. You are all animals. Go back to Chechnya and fight with Russia ...” The officers also warned the applicant that it was pointless for him to complain to the authorities about the ill ‑ treatment: “You are a Chechen and that says it all. You are not going to get any justice here”. 27.     Late at night the third and the first applicants were released from the police station and immediately went to the town prosecutor’s office. (e)     Description of the events by the witnesses (i)     Description by Ms S.G. 28.     Ms S.G. is the wife of the second applicant; she is an ethnic Balkar. She is the sister of Ms A.K. 29.     At about 9 p.m. on 14 November 2004 Ms A.K. called and told her that according to an acquaintance, who was a police officer, the first and the second applicants were being subjected to ill-treatment at the police station. 30.     Ms S.G. called the third applicant and together with him, Ms A.K. and other relatives they went to the GOM-2 in Nogmov Street. Upon arrival at the police station Ms S.G. knocked at the door and tried to obtain information about her husband, the second applicant, from the on-duty officers. She also tried to explain to them that her husband had a stomach ulcer which could start bleeding at any moment if aggravated. The policemen refused to speak to her, but they did not deny that the first and the second applicants were detained on their premises. 31.     Ms S.G., the third applicant and their relatives decided to wait at the entrance for the release of the first and the second applicants. While they were waiting, they saw police officers coming out on the porch to smoke. They heard them speaking in Balkarian, Kabardinian and Russian about the first and the second applicants and making disparaging comments concerning the brothers’ Chechen ethnicity. Ms S.G. and her relatives also understood from the officers’ conversations that the first and the second applicants were being subjected to beatings. 32.     More than an hour later an ambulance arrived at the police station and a doctor went inside. When the doctor came out, Ms S.G. asked her about the first and the second applicants. The doctor told her that she had not been allowed to see the second applicant, but that she had seen the first applicant, who had been in a very bad condition with signs of beatings all over his body and face and a stab wound. She also explained that she was supposed to take him to a hospital, but the policemen had refused to let him go. 33.     Ms S.G. pleaded with the doctor to return to the building and provide the first and second applicants with medical assistance. The doctor agreed and went inside. About ten minutes later she returned and told Ms S.G. that the officers had refused to let her see the applicants and provide them with medical assistance. 34.     Late at night the officers dragged the second applicant outside; he was bleeding, his teeth were knocked out and his clothes were torn. Ms S.G. asked him what had happened and he told her that he had been subjected to ill-treatment, humiliation and insults by the policemen on account of his Chechen ethnic origin. He insisted on going to the prosecutor’s office immediately and making a complaint about the ill-treatment. 35.     Then the third applicant approached the officers and asked them why his brother had been ill-treated. In response, several policemen in masks ran out from the building and started beating him with their rifle butts and kicking him. The officers kept insulting the third applicant on account of him being a Chechen. When Ms S.G. tried to intervene and protect the third applicant, one of the officers kicked her in the stomach and she fainted. 36.     Upon regaining consciousness, Ms S.G. went with the second applicant and their relatives to the town prosecutor’s office. The policemen who had ill-treated the applicants had already arrived there, and the head of the criminal search division, officer A. Bo., was speaking with the deputy town prosecutor, Mr M. Tkh. 37.     Sometime later the first and third applicants arrived at the prosecutor’s office. Ms S.G. saw that the third applicant, who had been dragged into the police station in a normal state of health, had been severely beaten and kept passing out. 38.     The deputy town prosecutor invited Ms S.G. into his office and told her the following: “I know that the Makhashev brothers are going to make a complaint; you have to make sure that they do not do it, as it will get worse for them. They will not succeed ...” Immediately after, Ms S.G. spoke to the brothers and asked them not to lodge official complaints about the ill ‑ treatment, but the applicants refused, claiming that they had been subjected to the ill-treatment on the sole ground of their ethnic origin. (ii)     Description by Ms A.K. 39.     In the evening of 14 November 2004 Ms A.K. received a phone call from a friend who was a police officer in Nalchik. He told her that the Makhashev brothers were being severely beaten by policemen in the GOM ‑ 2 in Nogmov Street. Ms A.K. immediately called her sister, Ms S.G. 40.     At about 10 p.m. Ms A.K., Ms S.G. and the third applicant went to the police station, where a number of other people were waiting outside. Ms   S.G. tried to explain to the on-duty officers that her husband had a stomach ulcer which could start bleeding. She kept asking them to call an ambulance and provide medical assistance to the first and second applicants. 41.     At some point an ambulance arrived at the police station. The doctor spent about half an hour in the building. When she came out, Ms S.G. and Ms A.K. asked her about their relatives. The doctor said that she was worried about the first applicant, who was in a bad state, but the policemen had refused to let him go to hospital. Ms S.G. told the doctor about the second applicant’s ulcer and asked her to go back into the station and provide him with medical assistance. The doctor agreed and went back into the station; about ten to fifteen minutes later she left the building and said that the policemen had not allowed her to examine the second applicant and refused to let her take the first applicant to hospital. 42.     Late at night two police officers brought the second applicant, who had been severely beaten, outside. His teeth were knocked out, he was covered with blood and his clothes were torn. The third applicant asked the officers why his brother had been ill-treated. In response, five officers ran out of the station and started beating him and saying: “You are also a Chechen, get out of here ...” Ms S.G. attempted to intervene and protect him, but she was kicked in the stomach and fainted. The policemen dragged the third applicant inside. 43.     After Ms S.G. had regained consciousness, she, Ms A.K. and the second applicant went to the town prosecutor’s office, where the officials and the police officers tried to dissuade the second applicant and Ms S.G. from making a complaint about the ill-treatment: “Do not go against the flow. It is futile for you to make a complaint”. 44.     At some point later the first and third applicants also arrived at the prosecutor’s office. They were bleeding, and the office employees had to cover the chairs with oilcloths to protect the furniture from getting blood stains on it. The third applicant kept spitting blood and running to the toilet. Ms A.K. stayed with the applicants and Ms S.G. at the prosecutor’s office until the early morning of 15 November 2004; after that she went home.   (f)     Medical examination of the applicants (i)     Medical statements concerning the first applicant 45.     On the morning of 15 November 2004, upon the order of the town prosecutor’s office, the applicants underwent a medical examination at the Bureau of Forensic Expert Evaluations of the Ministry of Health of Kabardino-Balkaria (hereafter “the Bureau”). The expert evaluation of the first applicant, dated 15 November 2004, stated, inter alia , the following: “... the circumstances of the case: on 14 November 2004 ... Ibragim Makhashev had a fight with unidentified persons. From the place of the incident he was taken to the GOM-2 in Nalchik. According to Ibragim Makhashev, at the police station officers beat him in the head with punches, kicks and truncheons. ... in the evening of 14 November 2000 police officers first beat him outside; then they took him into the police station, where they continued beating him until the morning with truncheons, rifle butts, punches and kicks; ... prior to these events he had had a fight in a night club ... Conclusions. Ibragim Makhashev sustained the following injuries: soft tissue bruises of the head and the right hand; haemorrhages of the sclera of both eyes; soft tissue bruises of the right part of the face; bruises of the face, left ear, area behind the left ear, chest, back, left hand and both legs. These injuries were caused by blunt firm objects ... Ibragim Makhashev was hospitalised at the Republican Clinical Hospital ...” 46.     On 11 December 2004 the maxillofacial injuries unit of the Republican Clinical Hospital in Nalchik issued an official medical certificate concerning the first applicant. The text of the document included the following: “... diagnosis on arrival on 16 November 2004: multiple severe craniofacial injuries; closed craniocerebral injury, moderate brain contusion, multifragmental fracture of the left zygomatic region with dislocation of multiple bone fragments. Surgery: under general anaesthesia ... open repositioning of the zygomatic bone ... by titanium plates with screws ...” 47.     On 28 February 2005 the Bureau issued an additional expert evaluation in respect of the first applicant. The text of the document included the following: “... conclusions: Mr Ibragim Makhashev has the following injuries: 1. Closed fracture of the left zygomatic bone ... 2. Closed craniocerebral injury; moderate brain contusion ... 3. Stab wound in the left gluteal region ... 4. Extensive bruising of the head, ears, chest, upper and lower extremities ... The injuries described were caused by blunt firm objects ... which could have been fists, boots ... and the injury described in paragraph 3 was caused by a piercing or sharp object ...” (ii)     Medical statements concerning the second applicant 48.     On 15 November 2004 the second applicant underwent a medical examination at the Bureau. The expert evaluation, dated 15 November 2004, stated, inter alia , the following: “... the circumstances of the case: in the evening of 14 November 2004 ... Adam Makhashev had a fight with unidentified persons. From the place of the incident he was taken to GOM-2 in Nalchik. According to Adam Makhashev, at the police station three to seven officers beat him in the head with fists, kicks and truncheons ... he lost consciousness ... Conclusions. Mr Adam Makhashev has the following injuries: Closed fracture of the nose with dislocation of multiple bone fragments;   Closed craniocerebral injury; moderate brain contusion;   Contusion of the right kidney;   Contusion of the ribcage;   Extensive bruising of the face, back, lower back, neck, chest ..., upper extremities ... violent extraction of two teeth;   Contused head wound ... The injuries described were caused by blunt firm objects ...” 49.     On 24 February 2005 the Bureau issued an additional expert report in respect of the second applicant. The text of the document contained the same findings as those established during the examination of 15 November 2004. 50.     On 6 June 2005 Nalchik Town Clinical Hospital no.   1 issued an official medical certificate concerning the second applicant. The document stated that the applicant had been “... undergoing treatment in the surgical department of the hospital since 4 June 2005” and had been diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer complicated by bleeding. 51.     On an unspecified date Nalchik Town Clinical Hospital no.   2 issued an official medical certificate concerning the second applicant’s hospitalisation from 16 June to 13 July 2005 on account of the above ‑ mentioned condition. (iii)     Medical statements concerning the third applicant 52.     On 15 November 2004 the third applicant also underwent a medical examination at the Bureau. The report, dated 15 November 2004, stated, inter alia , the following: “... the circumstances of the case: on the evening of 14 November 2004 ... Islam Makhashev was taken to the GOM-2 in Nalchik, where several police officers beat him in the head and the torso with fists, kicks and rifle butts ... he complains of pain in the chest. Conclusions. Mr Islam Makhashev has the following injuries: Contusion of the left part of the chest; Bruises and contusion of facial tissue and the chest ... The injuries described were caused by blunt firm objects ...” 53.     On 24 February 2005 the Bureau issued an additional expert report on the third applicant’s condition. The text of the document contained the same findings as those established during the examination of 15 November 2004. (g)     Documents submitted by the applicants to the Court 54.     In support of their application the applicants provided the following documents: a statement by the first applicant dated 5 June 2007; a statement by the second applicant dated 5 June 2007; a statement by the third applicant dated 5 June 2007; a statement by Ms S.G. dated 6 June 2007; a statement by Ms A.K. dated 6 June 2007; three official medical examination reports in respect of each of the applicants by the Bureau, each dated 15   November 2004; a medical certificate in respect of the first applicant issued by the department of maxillofacial injuries of the Republican Clinical Hospital in Nalchik, dated 11 December 2004; an official medical examination report in respect of the first applicant issued by the Bureau, dated 28 February 2005; two official medical examination reports in respect of the second and third applicants issued by the Bureau, both dated 24   February 2005, and two medical certificates issued by the Nalchik Town Clinical Hospitals no.   1 and no.   2 in respect of the second applicant, one dated 6 June 2005 and one undated. 2.     Information submitted by the Government 55.     The Government challenged the facts as presented by the applicants, stating that during the investigation the applicants had on several occasions changed their statements concerning the participation of the third applicant in the fight in the club. 56.     The Government further stated that the domestic criminal investigation had established the true circumstances of the events of the night of 14 November 2004. According to their submission, on 14   November 2004 the applicants received their injuries as a result of the fight at the establishment referred to both as a club and a concert hall. The applicants were not subjected to beatings or inhuman or degrading treatment at the police station. 57.     On an unspecified date the investigators questioned police officers A.E. and Z.S., who stated that on 14 November 2004 they had been on duty and received information about a riot at a concert hall. Upon arrival at the hall someone had told them that one of the hall’s security guards had been taken to hospital in an ambulance. Then the officers had noticed the two Makhashev brothers sitting on a bench surrounded by a group of about fifteen men. Each of these men had been running up to the brothers and delivering blows and kicks to their heads and torsos. The policemen had broken up the flight and taken the applicants to the patrol car. According to the officers, the brothers had been severely beaten: some their teeth had been knocked out and their clothing had been torn. The men who had beaten the applicants up had asked the policemen to hand the Makhashev brothers back to them, but the officers had refused. Then the applicants had been taken to the GOM-2 police station by car. The officers had not seen the applicants again. 58.     On an unspecified date the investigators questioned the head of the criminal search division, Mr A.Bo., who stated that on 14 November 2004 he had arrived at the police station, where on the 2nd floor he had found the first and second applicants, who looked as though they had been severely beaten. The first applicant’s buttocks had been covered in blood. The officer had ordered that the second applicant be taken to his office and the first applicant to another. According to the witness, Adam Makhashev had started swearing and expressing his anger against the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Two other police officers who had been present in the office, Mr M. Kh. and Mr Z.Ar., had asked the applicant to calm down. The latter had suddenly hit the witness in the face, causing bleeding, and then grabbed a stationery knife. Mr M. Kh. and Mr Z.Ar. had managed to take the knife from the applicant. After that the witness had gone to the bathroom to wash the blood off his face. When he had returned to the office, five police officers had been there: Mr Z.A., Mr M.Al., Mr Z.Ar., Mr M.Kh. and Mr T.S. After that the applicant had told the officers about the fight with Mr   M.Sh. at the club. Then the witness had gone to the office where the first applicant had been questioned. The latter had told him that he and the second applicant had been beaten by unidentified persons outside the concert hall. Having noticed blood on the first applicant’s trousers the witness had asked his colleagues to call an ambulance and returned to his office. Then police officer Z.Ar. had entered the office and told him that an officer from the Department for the Fight Against Organised Crime, Mr   A.R., had arrived and asked to speak with the Makhashev brothers. The witness had given his permission. Meanwhile, the ambulance had arrived at the police station and a medical doctor had examined the applicants. The applicants had been asked to go to hospital, but they had refused and signed a document to that effect. Officer Z.Le. had then entered the room and told the witness that the second applicant had claimed that a sum of money had been stolen from him at the police station. In the other office the first applicant had alleged that his watch had gone missing after he had been brought to the station; however, it had been found a few minutes later in the applicant’s pocket. The witness had then asked for an investigator from the prosecutor’s office to come to the police station. Then he and other police officers had gone outside, where they had seen two women and the third applicant, who were swearing. When the police officers had put the second applicant, Adam Makhashev, in a car, one of the women had run up to the vehicle, got into the front seat and demanded to be told where Adam was being taken. The officers had pulled her out and explained to her that they were taking him to the prosecutor’s office. Meanwhile, the third applicant had kept shouting and swearing at the officers. In view of the third applicant’s behaviour, two or three officers had taken him into the police station. After that the witness had gone back to his office, and sometime later he had gone to the town prosecutor’s office to make a statement about the events. 59.     On unspecified dates the investigators questioned police officers Z.Ar., M.Al., Z.L., V.D. and V.K., whose statements about the events of 14   November 2004 were similar to the one made by officer A. Bo. 60.     The Government stated that a number of witness confrontations were conducted by the investigators as a result of which the witness statements made by the police officers had been confirmed. In particular, on an unspecified date the investigators conducted a witness confrontation between officer V.K. and the third applicant. The applicant confirmed that he had passed by the concert hall on 14 November 2004. The Government did not furnish a copy of this statement. 61.     On an unspecified date the investigators questioned the guard of the concert hall (in the submitted documents also referred to as the night club’s security guard) Mr A.Ku., who stated that on 14 November 2004 he had been at work when a group of young men had entered the premises and started drinking alcoholic beverages. After a while a fight had broken out between them. The witness had wanted to break up the fight. He had physically removed one of the men from the premises. When returned inside, the man had followed him back in and stabbed him in the left thigh. Meanwhile, the young men had continued fighting. Someone had called an ambulance, which had taken him to hospital. B.     Official investigation of the ill-treatment 1.     Information submitted by the applicants 62.     On 15 November 2004 the applicants complained to the town prosecutor’s office about their ill-treatment by the police officers. 63.     On 25 November 2004 the town prosecutor’s office instituted an investigation into the beating of the applicants by “unidentified persons” under Articles 112 and 115 of the Russian Criminal Code (voluntary infliction of injuries). The case file was given the number 21/223-04. 64.     On 21 February 2005 the applicants complained to the Prosecutor General about ineffectiveness of the investigation in the criminal case. In particular, they pointed out the following: “... the beatings were carried out in the most humiliating way, debasing our ... ethnic dignity ... In spite of the fact that the proceedings have been ongoing for almost two months, the investigator has not taken investigative steps ... We have not been granted victim status in the criminal case ...; Even though we directly identified the persons who had subjected us to the beatings ... the investigator has not brought any charges against the police officers who tortured us ... he has not taken basic steps such as [organising] an identification parade, [witness] confrontations, etc ... On a number of occasions we have stressed that we were subjected to beatings in the police station, but the investigator nonetheless stated in the decision to open the criminal case that we had been beaten by ‘unidentified persons next to the building of GOM-2 in Nalchik’ ... ... As long as this criminal case is being investigated by the prosecutor’s office in Kabardino-Balkaria, there will not be an objective investigation of the crime; ... Taking into account that the beatings to which we were subjected took place on account of xenophobic hostility, this criminal case should be investigated by [another] department of the Prosecutor General’s office ... ... This criminal case could turn against us; for instance, bullet cartridges or other similar things could be planted on one or all of us and we would be prosecuted for our attempts to hold the police officers responsible ... ... The court to which we brought our complaint about the ineffectiveness of the criminal investigation did not support us owing to our ethnic origin ...” 65.     On 15 March 2005 the investigators questioned the head of the GOM-2, officer V.D., who stated that on 14 November 2004 he had been the senior police officer responsible for the station. In the evening the police had received information about a fight taking place outside a night club. Shortly after, he and an on-duty officer had arrived at the scene, where a crowd of about eighty persons surrounded their patrol car and demanded the release of two young men who had allegedly stabbed the club’s security guard. As the officer in charge, the witness had ordered that an investigator remain at the scene; then he had driven with the wounded guard to the hospital and taken his statement about the events. Next, he had returned to the GOM-2, where on the third floor he had seen the first and second applicants who had looked as though they had been beaten up. His colleagues had informed him that one of the brothers had been stabbed. Sometime later an ambulance had arrived at the station. The doctor had advised one of the Makhashev brothers to be taken to the hospital, but he had refused, and signed a document to that effect, after which the ambulance had left. After that, the witness had gone to his office on the third floor and then he had heard screaming. About three minutes later he had overheard a loud conversation from a nearby office. He had gone there and seen a tall young man, the third applicant, who had told him that he wanted to know the reasons for his brothers’ arrest as they were not guilty of anything. The witness had promised him that the policemen would clarify the situation and returned to his office. The third applicant had not had visible injuries; he had not been subjected to beatings in the presence of the witness. The witness further stated that he had not personally beaten any of the applicants. 66.     At some point prior to the middle of