nce of sufficiently strong, clear and concordant inferences or of similar unrebutted presumptions of fact (see Ireland v. the United Kingdom, cited above, § 161).
123. The Court reiterates that "where an individual makes a credible assertion that he has suffered treatment infringing Article 3 at the hands of the police or other similar agents of the State, that provision, read in conjunction with the State's general duty under Article 1 of the Convention to "secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in... [the] Convention", requires by implication that there should be an effective official investigation" (see Labita v. Italy [GC], No. 26772/95, § 131, ECHR 2000-IV).
(i) The alleged ill-treatment
124. In so far as the complaint concerns the torture to which Murad Gelayev was allegedly subjected by the abductors, the Court has already found that he was detained on 27 February 2000 by State agents. It has also established that, in view of all the known circumstances, he can be presumed dead and that the responsibility for his death lies with the State authorities (see paragraph 109 above). The Court further notes that the applicants' allegation that Murad Gelayev was tortured while in detention is supported by a number of detailed statements given to the official investigation, including those in which it was stated that Murad Gelayev's ear had been cut off by the abductors (see paragraphs 32, 35, 52, 56, 57, 63, 64 and 78 above). From the very beginning of the investigation and throughout the proceedings the applicants were consistent in their allegations of their relative's torture by the abductors. The Court observes that a number of witnesses, including the sixth applicant, had informed the investigators about the torture of Murad Gelayev, but the authorities had failed to examine or follow up on their statements. According to the Government's submission, the domestic investigation had not established that Murad Gelayev had been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment. The Court further notes that despite its repeated requests the Government refused to provide all of the documents from the investigation file and finds that it can draw inferences from the Government's conduct in this respect.
125. The Court has already found that Murad Gelayev was abducted on 27 February 2000 by State agents. It further considers that the applicants have made a prima facie case showing that he was tortured by the servicemen following his abduction. The burden of proof is thus shifted to the Government to refute this allegation (see paragraph 100 above). The Government's statement that the investigation had not established that Murad Gelayev had been subjected to treatment prohibited by Article 3 is insufficient to release them from the above-mentioned burden of proof (see for a similar situation Basayeva and Others v. Russia, Nos. 15441/05 and 20731/04, §§ 145 - 155, 28 May 2009).
126. The Court reiterates that ill-treatment must attain a minimum level of severity if it is to fall within the scope of Article 3. The assessment of this minimum is relative: it depends on all the circumstances of the case, such as the duration of the treatment, its physical and/or mental effects and, in some cases, the sex, age and state of health of the victim (see, among other authorities, Tekin v. Turkey, 9 June 1998, § 52, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998-IV).
127. The evidence submitted is consistent in describing that after the abduction on 27 February 2000 the servicemen, who had taken Murad Gelayev away, subjected him to beatings with bludgeons and steel rods and cut off his ear. The Court considers that this treatment reached the threshold of "torture" since not only must it have caused him physical pain, it must also have made him feel humiliated and caused fear and anguish as to what might happen to him.
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