ntion that her husband had been killed by State agents and that the authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation of the matter. Article 2 reads:
"1. Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.
2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this Article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary:
(a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;
(c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection."
A. The parties' submissions
62. The Government first argued that the complaint was manifestly ill-founded and should be dismissed as such. They further contended that the domestic investigation had obtained no evidence to the effect that Sultan Khatuyev was dead or that any servicemen of the federal law-enforcement agencies had been involved in his kidnapping or alleged killing. The Government claimed that the investigation met the Convention requirement of effectiveness, as all measures available under national law were being taken to identify those responsible.
63. The applicant argued that Sultan Khatuyev had been detained by State servicemen and should be presumed dead in the absence of any reliable news of him for many years. The applicant also argued that the investigation had not met the effectiveness and adequacy requirements laid down by the Court's case-law. The applicant pointed out that the district prosecutor's office had not taken some crucial investigative steps. The investigation into Sultan Khatuyev's kidnapping had been opened 18 days after the events and then had been suspended and resumed a number of times - thus delaying the taking of the most basic steps. The relatives had not been properly informed of the most important investigative measures. The fact that the investigation had been ongoing for such a long period of time without producing any known results was further proof of its ineffectiveness. She also invited the Court to draw conclusions from the Government's unjustified failure to submit the documents from the case file to her or to the Court.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
64. 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. 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 Sultan Khatuyev
65. The Court has already found that the applicant's husband must be presumed dead following unacknowledged detention and that the death can be attributed to the State. In the absence of any justification in respect of the use of lethal force by State agents, the Court finds that there has been a violation of Article 2 in respect of Sultan Khatuyev.
(b) The alleged inadequacy of the investigation of the kidnapping
66. The Court has on many occasions stated that the obligation to protect the right to life under Article 2 of the Convention also requires by implication that there should be some form of effective official investigation when individuals have been killed as a result of the use of force. It has deve
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