those responsible. They pointed out that the investigation into the abduction had been commenced on the first day after the applicants' complaint about it and that the applicants had failed to indicate which measures had not been taken by the investigators.
98. The applicants argued that Ruslan Magomadov had been detained by State servicemen and should be presumed dead in the absence of any reliable news of him for several years. The applicants also argued that the investigation had not met the effectiveness and adequacy requirements laid down by the Court's case-law. The applicants pointed out that by April 2005 the investigators had failed to question the first applicant who had witnessed the events; that in spite of credible reports concerning the involvement of APCs and state agents in the disappearance, the investigators had failed to question any representatives of local law-enforcement and military agencies about their possible involvement in the events. They further contended that even though the investigation into Ruslan Magomadov's kidnapping had been opened immediately after the events, it had then been suspended and resumed a number of times - thus delaying the taking of the most basic steps - and that the relatives had not been properly informed of the most important investigative measures. The fact that the investigation had been pending for more than five and a half years without producing any known results was further proof of its ineffectiveness. They also invited the Court to draw conclusions from the Government's unjustified failure to submit the documents from the case file to them or to the Court.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
99. 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 81 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 Ruslan Magomadov
100. The Court has already found that the applicants' relative 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 his death can be attributed to the State and that there has been a violation of Article 2 in respect of Ruslan Magomadov.
(b) The alleged inadequacy of the investigation of the kidnapping
101. 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).
102. In the present case, the kidnapping of Ruslan Magomadov was investigated. The Court must assess whether that investigation met the requirements of Article 2 of the Convention.
103. 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.
104. The Court notes that the authorities were immediately made aware of the crime by the applicants&#
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