n was detained by State servicemen. The Government's statement that the investigation did not find any evidence to support the involvement of special forces in the abduction is insufficient to discharge them from the above-mentioned burden of proof. Drawing support from the consistent explanations and accounts contained in the documents submitted by the parties and having regard to the Government's failure to provide any other plausible explanation of the events in question, the Court considers that Abu Khasuyev was arrested on 30 August 2001 in his flat in Urus-Martan by State servicemen during an unacknowledged security operation.
106. There has been no reliable news of the applicant's son since 30 August 2001. His name has not been found in any official detention facilities' records. Finally, the Government did not submit any explanation as to what had happened to him after his arrest.
107. The Court notes with great concern that a number of cases have come before it which suggest that the phenomenon of "disappearances" is well known in Chechnya (see, among others, Bazorkina, cited above; Imakayeva, cited above; Luluyev and Others v. Russia, No. 69480/01, ECHR 2006-... (extracts); Baysayeva v. Russia, No. 74237/01, 5 April 2007; Akhmadova and Sadulayeva v. Russia, cited above; and Alikhadzhiyeva v. Russia, No. 68007/01, 5 July 2007). A number of international reports point to the same conclusion. The Court has already found that, in the context of the conflict in Chechnya, when a person is detained by unidentified servicemen without any subsequent acknowledgment of the detention, this can be regarded as life-threatening. The absence of Abu Khasuyev or of any news of him for more than seven years supports this assumption. For the above reasons the Court considers that it has been established beyond reasonable doubt that he must be presumed dead following unacknowledged detention by State servicemen.
108. As it follows from the documents submitted by the Government, as late as April 2008, that is more than six and half years after the crime had occurred and the investigation had been opened, the most basic steps had not been taken related to the establishment of the identity of the perpetrators and the questioning of the witnesses about the events of 30 August 2001 (see paragraph 81 above).
109. Furthermore, in a case involving disappearance, the Court finds it particularly regrettable that there should have been no thorough investigation of the relevant facts by the domestic prosecutors or courts. The documents submitted by the Government from the investigation file opened by the prosecutor's office do not suggest any progress in more than six years and, if anything, show the incomplete and inadequate nature of those proceedings. Moreover, the stance of the prosecutor's office and the other law enforcement authorities after the news of Abu Khasuyev's detention had been communicated to them by the applicant contributed significantly to the likelihood of the disappearance, as no necessary steps were taken in the crucial first days and weeks after the arrest. The authorities' behaviour in the face of the applicant's well-substantiated complaints gives rise to a strong presumption of at least acquiescence in the situation and raises strong doubts as to the objectivity of the investigation.
110. For the above reasons the Court considers that it has been established that Abu Khasuyev must be presumed dead following his unacknowledged detention by State servicemen.
III. Alleged violation of Article 2 of the Convention
111. The applicant complained under Article 2 of the Convention that her son had disappeared after being detained by Russian servicemen and that the domestic authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation of the matter. Article 2 reads:
"1. Everyone's r
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