isitors' logbooks kept at those checkpoints. Furthermore, the Government conceded that the investigators had not questioned Mr G., who had received Bekman Asadulayev and Mr Sh. on 14 January 2004 and who, according to Mr Sh., had been in his office when armed men in camouflage uniforms had entered it. The Court is further struck by the fact that although, in the Government's submission, Mr Sh. had explicitly stated that the abductors of Bekman Asadulayev had not worn masks and that he would recognise them, no attempts had been made to identify them by, for example, compiling photofit pictures of them. It also does not follow from the Government's submissions that any attempts were made to identify the vehicle in which the abductors had taken Bekman Asadulayev away. In the Court's opinion, all those omissions on the part of the investigating authorities clearly undermined the ability of the investigation to establish the circumstances of the abduction of the applicants' relative and to identify those responsible for it.
102. The Court also notes that even though the third applicant was eventually granted victim status, it transpires that she was not informed of any significant developments in the investigation. In particular, it does not transpire that she was timely notified about the institution of the investigation. Regard being had to the third applicant's and the applicants' representatives' repeated requests for information, it appears that the applicants were not notified even about such basic developments in the investigation as the decisions to suspend or resume it. Furthermore, there is no indication that the first and second applicants were granted victim status. Accordingly, the investigators failed to ensure that the investigation received the required degree of public scrutiny, or to safeguard the interests of the next of kin in the proceedings (see {Ogur} v. Turkey [GC], No. 21594/93, § 92, ECHR 1999-III).
103. Lastly, the Court points out that the investigation has been pending for over five years and, according to the Government, was suspended and resumed several times owing to the failure to identify the perpetrators. The Government failed to provide the exact dates of those decisions but it is not clear from their submissions whether any investigative steps were taken after 30 April 2004 and if so, what they were. The Court doubts that the way the investigation was handled increased the prospects of identifying the perpetrators and establishing the fate of Bekman Asadulayev.
104. Having regard to the Government's preliminary objection, which was joined to the merits of the complaint, the Court considers that the applicants, who did not have access to the case file and were not properly informed of the progress of the investigation, including the most basic decisions, could not have effectively challenged the actions or omissions of the investigating authorities before a court under Article 125 of the CCP, contrary to what was suggested by the Government. Therefore, it is highly doubtful that the remedy relied on would have had any prospects of success. Accordingly, the Court finds that the remedy cited by the Government was ineffective in the circumstances and dismisses their preliminary objection as regards the applicants' failure to exhaust the domestic remedies within the context of the criminal investigation.
105. In the light of the foregoing, the Court finds that the authorities failed to carry out an effective criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abduction and subsequent death of Bekman Asadulayev in breach of Article 2 under its procedural head. Accordingly, there has been a violation of Article 2 on this account also.
III. Alleged violation of Article 3 of the Convention
106. The applicants relied on Article 3 of the Convention, submitting that a
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