entity had been established. He was not listed among the persons kept in detention centres and none of the regional law-enforcement agencies had information about his detention. In their additional observations the Government stated that Mr Khatuyev's detention had in fact been recorded at the Sunzhenskiy ROVD, but submitted no copies of the relevant documents or any other details.
87. The applicant reiterated the complaint.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
88. The Court notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that the complaint is not inadmissible on any other grounds and must therefore be declared admissible.
2. Merits
89. The Court has previously noted the fundamental importance of the guarantees contained in Article 5 to secure the right of individuals in a democracy to be free from arbitrary detention. It has also stated that unacknowledged detention is a complete negation of these guarantees and discloses a very grave violation of Article 5 (see {Cicek} v. Turkey, No. 25704/94, § 164, 27 February 2001, and Luluyev, cited above, § 122).
90. The Court has found that Sultan Khatuyev was apprehended by State servicemen on 2 August 2004. The information submitted by the parties shows that on the same day he had been delivered to the Sunzhenskiy ROVD and than transferred to the representatives of the FSB who put him in a car and went towards the FSB office in Magas. His detention was not acknowledged in a meaningful manner, was not duly logged in any custody records and there exists no official trace of his subsequent whereabouts or fate. In accordance with the Court's practice, this fact in itself must be considered a most serious failing, since it enables those responsible for an act of deprivation of liberty to conceal their involvement in a crime, to cover their tracks and to escape accountability for the fate of a detainee. Furthermore, the absence of detention records, noting such matters as the date, time and location of detention and the name of the detainee as well as the reasons for the detention and the name of the person effecting it, must be seen as incompatible with the very purpose of Article 5 of the Convention (see Orhan, cited above, § 371). In fact, the Government's argument points to the heart of the problem, because even though the evidence amply demonstrates that Mr Khatuyev had been deprived of his liberty by State agents, none of the safeguards against arbitrary detention contained in the domestic legal order had been employed.
91. The Court further considers that the authorities should have been more alert to the need for a thorough and prompt investigation of the applicant's complaints that her husband had been detained and taken away in life-threatening circumstances. However, the Court's findings above in relation to Article 2 and, in particular, the conduct of the investigation leave no doubt that the authorities failed to take prompt and effective measures to safeguard him against the risk of disappearance.
92. In view of the foregoing, the Court finds that Sultan Khatuyev was held in unacknowledged detention without any of the safeguards contained in Article 5. This constitutes a particularly grave violation of the right to liberty and security enshrined in Article 5 of the Convention.
VI. Alleged violation of Article 8 of the Convention
93. The applicant alleged that the search carried out at her house on 2 August 2004 was illegal and constituted a violation of her right to respect for her home. It thus disclosed a violation of Article 8 of the Convention, which provides:
"1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
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