des, 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.
91. 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 obliged to pursue civil remedies. The Government's objection in this regard is thus dismissed.
92. As regards criminal law remedies, the Court observes that the applicants complained to the law-enforcement authorities after the kidnapping of Murad Gelayev and that an investigation has been pending since 13 July 2005. The applicants and the Government dispute the effectiveness of the investigation into the kidnapping.
93. The Court considers that the Government's objection raises issues concerning the effectiveness of the investigation which are closely linked to the merits of the applicants' complaints. It therefore decides to join this objection to the merits of the case and considers that the issue falls to be examined below.
II. The Court's assessment of the evidence
and the establishment of the facts
A. The parties' arguments
94. The applicants maintained that it was beyond reasonable doubt that the men who had taken away Murad Gelayev had been State agents. In support of their complaint they referred to the following facts. At the material time Gikalo had been under the total control of federal troops. The armed men who had abducted Murad Gelayev had worn camouflage uniforms; the majority of them had been masked; they had been equipped with portable radios and had arrived as a large group. They had arrived in military vehicles, including APCs, early in the morning, which indicated that they had been able to circulate freely in the area without being afraid that they would be seen by the local law-enforcement agencies. The men acted in a manner similar to that of special forces carrying out identity checks. The men had abducted thirteen other residents of Gikalo along with Murad Gelayev. The local police officers had acknowledged that Murad Gelayev had been abducted by federal servicemen and taken to the Oktyabrskiy VOVD (see paragraph 75 above) and the district prosecutor's office had been aware that the perpetrators had used APCs during the abduction (see paragraphs 37 and 48 above). The applicants pointed out that at the material time only the federal servicemen could have deployed APCs and used them for special operations. All the information disclosed from the criminal investigation file supported their assertion as to the involvement of State agents in the abduction. In particular, the numerous witness statements (see paragraphs 49, 52, 53, 56, 57, 62 - 70, 73 - 75 and 78 above) and other documents from the investigation file had confirmed the involvement of State agents in the abduction. Since Murad Gelayev had been missing for more than ten years, he could be presumed dead. That presumption was further supported by the circumstances in which he had been arrested, which should be recognised as life-threatening. Finally, the applicants referred to a number of cases examined by the Court in which it had been established that other Chechen men had disappeared in 2000 after they had been taken by their abductors to the same VOVD (see Magomadov v. Russia, No. 68004/01, §§ 96 - 97, 12 July 2007, and Yusupova and Zaurbekov v. Russia, No. 22057/02, §§ 62 - 63, 9 October 2008).
95. T
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