refused.
C. Information about the investigation submitted
by the Government
1. Investigation into the kidnapping of Khasan
Batayev, Zaur Ibragimov, Magomed Temurkayev, Rizvan
Ismailov, Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev
86. Despite specific requests by the Court the Government did not disclose most of the contents of the criminal investigation files. Thus, they submitted 50 pages from criminal investigation files Nos. 11012, 11107, 12199, 12256 and 12263. The documents submitted included decisions to open, suspend and resume the investigations and to grant victim status, as well as letters to the relatives informing them of the adjournment and reopening of the proceedings. No other documents, such as witness statements or expert reports, were produced by the Government.
87. Relying on the information obtained from the Prosecutor General's Office, the Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the files contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.
88. The documents, as well as the Government's submissions with regard to the investigation, can be summarised as follows.
89. The Government did not dispute the information provided by the applicants as regards most of the starting dates of the investigation into the applicants' relatives' abduction by "unidentified men in camouflage uniforms" on 18 September 2000. The Government submitted that the investigation had started with the opening of case No. 12199 in respect of Khasan Batayev on 2 October 2000; of case No. 12256 in respect of Magomed Temurkayev on 11 November 2000; and of case No. 12263 in respect of Rizvan Ismailov on 16 November 2000.
90. At the same time, the Government stated that the criminal investigation in case No. 11012 in respect of Zaur Ibragimov had been opened on 9 November 2000 and not on 9 January 2001 as the applicants asserted. It also follows from the documents produced by the Government, in particular from the town prosecutor's reply to the fourth applicant dated 27 April 2001, that criminal investigation No. 11012 was instituted on 9 November 2000 in respect of both Rizvan Ismailov and Zaur Ibragimov. The Chechnya prosecutor's reply to the eighth applicant dated 20 November 2001 states that investigation No. 12263 had been launched on 8 November 2000.
91. The Government further submitted that on 2 April 2001 the town prosecutor's office had opened criminal investigation No. 11107 into the kidnapping of Sayd-Ali Musayev and Kharon Musayev. On 26 April 2001 cases No. 11012, 12256 and 12263 had been joined to case No. 12199. On 7 April 2005 case No. 11107 was joined to case No. 12199.
92. On 15 October 2003 the second, eighth and ninth applicants were granted victim status in relation to their sons' kidnapping. On the same day the fourth and sixth applicants were granted victim status in relation to their sons' kidnapping and the theft of the cars. The first, third, fifth and seventh applicants were not granted victim status. The Government submitted that after October 2003 only the applicants who had victim status had been duly informed of all decisions taken during the investigation.
93. The Government stated that after October 2003 the applicants and a number of witnesses were questioned by the investigation. The Government provided a brief outline of their accounts, without appending copies of the transcripts or specifying the dates of the questioning. Their submissions can be summarised as follows.
94. The second applicant was questioned as a victim. He testified that his son, Khasan Batayev, had not participated in il
> 1 2 3 ... 7 8 9 ... 29 30 31