ed that she had laid down a prima facie case that Adam Khurayev had been abducted by State agents. The applicant's son had been detained by a large group of armed individuals wearing camouflage uniforms, acting under one command and using military equipment, such as portable radios. Those individuals had driven military vehicles freely through the town at night, during curfew hours. The fact of the use of military vehicles had been proved by the statements of M.Ch., who had seen the abductors drive away, M.M.'s reference to the noise of military vehicles, A.M.'s statement that she had seen an APC and two military UAZ vehicles and the Town Court's findings concerning the APCs. It transpired from the Government's submissions that the theory of Adam Khurayev's abduction by State servicemen had been the only possibility examined by the domestic investigating authorities and the former had failed to provide any other explanation for what had happened to him. The applicant also invited the Court to draw conclusions from the Government's unjustified failure to submit the documents from the case file.
85. The applicant disputed the Government's argument that the investigation into the abduction of her son had met the effectiveness and adequacy requirements laid down by the Court's case-law. In particular, the authorities had failed to promptly open a criminal case into Adam Khurayev's abduction. Only two witnesses had been interviewed in 2003. The majority of witnesses had been questioned in 2004 and their interviews had been superficial. Although the abduction had occurred in a densely populated area, no attempts had been made to identify other witnesses who might have provided information on the vehicles and the direction they had taken. Despite the Town Court's guidelines, the investigation had failed to take the investigative steps enumerated in its decision. The investigation had been ongoing for more than five years and had failed to produce any results.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
86. The Court considers, in the light of the parties' submissions, that the complaint raises serious issues of fact and law under the Convention, the determination of which requires an examination of the merits. Further, the Court has already found that the Government's objection concerning the alleged non-exhaustion of domestic remedies should be joined to the merits of the complaint (see paragraph 80 above). The complaint under Article 2 of the Convention must therefore be declared admissible.
2. Merits
(a) The alleged violation of the right to life of Adam Khurayev
(i) General principles
87. The Court reiterates that, in the light of the importance of the protection afforded by Article 2, it must subject deprivations of life to the most careful scrutiny, taking into consideration not only the actions of State agents but also all the surrounding circumstances. Detained persons are in a vulnerable position and the obligation on the authorities to account for the treatment of a detained individual is particularly stringent where that individual dies or disappears thereafter (see, among other authorities, Orhan v. Turkey, No. 25656/94, § 326, 18 June 2002, and the authorities cited therein). Where the events in issue lie wholly or in large part within the exclusive knowledge of the authorities, as in the case of persons under their control in detention, strong presumptions of fact will arise in respect of injuries and death occurring during that detention. Indeed, the burden of proof may be regarded as resting on the authorities to provide a satisfactory and convincing explanation (see Salman v. Turkey [GC], No. 21986/93, § 100, ECHR 2000-VII, and {Cakici} v. Turkey [GC], No. 23657/94, § 85, ECHR 1999-IV).
(ii) Establishment o
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