tion of the right to life of Aslambek Ismailov, Aslan Ismailov, Yaragi Ismailov, Khizir Ismailov and Yusi Daydayev
90. The Court has already found that the applicants' relatives must be presumed dead following unacknowledged detention by State servicemen. In the absence of any justification put forward by the Government, the Court finds that their deaths can be attributed to the State and that there has been a violation of Article 2 in respect of Aslambek Ismailov, Aslan Ismailov, Yaragi Ismailov, Khizir Ismailov and Yusi Daydayev.
(b) The alleged inadequacy of the investigation of the kidnapping
91. 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 developed a number of guiding principles to be followed for an investigation to comply with the Convention's requirements (for a summary of these principles see Bazorkina, cited above, §§ 117 - 119).
92. In the present case, the kidnapping of Aslambek Ismailov, Aslan Ismailov, Yaragi Ismailov, Khizir Ismailov and Yusi Daydayev was investigated. The Court must assess whether that investigation met the requirements of Article 2 of the Convention.
93. The Court notes at the outset that most of the documents from the investigation were not disclosed by the Government. It therefore has to assess the effectiveness of the investigation on the basis of the few documents submitted by the parties and the information about its progress presented by the Government.
94. The Court notes that the authorities were immediately made aware of the crime by the applicants' submissions. The investigation in case No. 44009 was instituted on 17 January 2003, which is three days after the abduction of Aslambek Ismailov, Aslan Ismailov, Yaragi Ismailov, Khizir Ismailov and Yusi Daydayev. Such a postponement per se was liable to affect the investigation of the kidnapping in life-threatening circumstances, where crucial action has to be taken in the first days after the event. It appears that after that a number of essential steps were not taken at all. The Court notes that the investigators had not questioned the district military commander or other commanding officers of the local power structures about possible participation of their servicemen in the abduction; they had not established the identity of the owners of the APCs used by the abductors; they had failed to elucidate the discrepancies in the witness statements concerning the movement of the APCs on the night of the abduction (see paragraphs 43, 48 and 51 above). In addition, it does not appear that the investigators took tangible measures to verify the information concerning the detention of the abducted men on the ORB's premises in Grozny (see paragraphs 53, 54, 61 above) or that they tried to identify and question colonel L.Ch. (see paragraph 58 above). It is obvious that these investigative measures, if they were to produce any meaningful results, should have been taken immediately after the crime was reported to the authorities, and as soon as the investigation commenced. Such delays, for which there has been no explanation in the instant case, not only demonstrate the authorities' failure to act of their own motion but also constitute a breach of the obligation to exercise exemplary diligence and promptness in dealing with such a serious crime (see Paul and Audrey Edwards v. the United Kingdom, No. 46477/99, § 86, ECHR 2002-II).]
95. The Court also notes that even though the fourth applicant was granted victim status in the investigation concerning the abduction of her relatives, she and the other applicants were only informed of the suspension and resumption of the proceedings, and not of any other significant
> 1 2 3 ... 33 34 35 ... 41 42 43
Zaki.ru законы и право
поиск по сайту
каталог документов
добавить сайт Zaki.ru в избранное
Правовые акты международные
Правовые акты Российской Федерации
