sistent. In particular, the applicants were inconsistent in their description of the colour of the UAZ vehicle which had arrived at the checkpoint; that according to Mr R.G. the car had driven away without any passengers, whereas Ms Kh.Kh. had stated that it had taken away Magomed-Ali Abayev and Anvar Shaipov; the fourth applicant had stated that Magomed-Ali Abayev and Anvar Shaipov had been arrested by men in civilian clothing, whereas in their complaints to the authorities the applicants described the abductors as men in military uniforms.
B. The Court's evaluation of the facts
84. The Court observes that in its extensive jurisprudence it has developed a number of general principles relating to the establishment of facts in dispute, in particular when faced with allegations of disappearance under Article 2 of the Convention (for a summary of these, see Bazorkina v. Russia, No. 69481/01, §§ 103 - 109, 27 July 2006). The Court also notes that the conduct of the parties when evidence is being obtained has to be taken into account (see Ireland v. the United Kingdom, § 161, Series A No. 25).
85. The Court notes that despite its requests for a copy of the investigation file into the abduction of Magomed-Ali Abayev and Anvar Shaipov, the Government produced only some of the documents from the case file. The Government referred to Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Court observes that in previous cases it has already found this explanation insufficient to justify the withholding of key information requested by the Court (see Imakayeva v. Russia, No. 7615/02, § 123, ECHR 2006-VIII (extracts)).
86. In view of this and bearing in mind the principles referred to above, the Court finds that it can draw inferences from the Government's conduct in respect of the well-foundedness of the applicants' allegations. The Court will thus proceed to examine crucial elements in the present case that should be taken into account when deciding whether the applicants' relatives can be presumed dead and whether their deaths can be attributed to the authorities.
87. The applicants alleged that the persons who had arrested Magomed-Ali Abayev and Anvar Shaipov on 13 September 2000 and then killed had been State agents.
88. The Government suggested in their submissions that the abductors of Magomed-Ali Abayev and Anvar Shaipov may have been criminals or members of paramilitary groups. However, this allegation was not specific and the Government did not submit any material to support it. The Court would stress in this regard that the evaluation of the evidence and the establishment of the facts is a matter for the Court, and it is incumbent on it to decide on the evidentiary value of the documents submitted to it (see {Celikbilek} v. Turkey, No. 27693/95, § 71, 31 May 2005).
89. The Court notes that the applicants' allegation is supported by the witness statements collected by the applicants and by the investigation. It also notes that it is common ground between the parties that the applicants' relatives had been arrested at the checkpoint on 13 September 2000 and that afterwards they had disappeared. The domestic investigation also accepted factual assumptions as presented by the applicants and took steps to check whether law-enforcement agencies or military units had been involved in the disappearance of Magomed-Ali Abayev and Anvar Shaipov (see paragraphs 22, 44, 46 - 48, 55 and 58 above), but it does not appear that any serious steps were taken in that direction.
90. The Government questioned the credibility of the applicants' statements in view of certain discrepancies relating to the exact circumstances of the incident. The Court notes in this respect that no other elements underlying the applicants' submissions of facts have been disputed by the Government. In the Court's view, the fact tha
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