pointed out that the applicants' failure to promptly inform the authorities of the crime had entailed destruction of evidence and rendered the investigation more complicated. In sum they claimed that the investigation into the kidnapping of the applicants' relative met the Convention requirement of effectiveness, as all measures envisaged in national law were being taken to identify the perpetrators.
88. The applicants restated their complaint referring directly to Article 2 of the Convention and argued that Aslanbek Khamidov had been detained by State servicemen and should be presumed dead in the absence of any reliable news of him for more than eight years. The applicants submitted that they had not immediately informed the authorities of the kidnapping because in 2000 a large-scale counter-terrorist campaign had been under way in the Chechen Republic and they had feared to leave their village to visit a prosecutor's office. At the same time they had not had any confidence in the law-enforcement agencies located in the village of Alleroy since those had been responsible for the identity check of 25 October 2000.
89. The applicants also emphasised that the investigation had been suspended and resumed a number of times and had been pending for eight years without producing any tangible results. They concluded that it had not met the requirement of effectiveness implied in Article 2 of the Convention.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
90. 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 55 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 Aslanbek Khamidov
91. The Court reiterates that Article 2, which safeguards the right to life and sets out the circumstances when deprivation of life may be justified, ranks as one of the most fundamental provisions in the Convention, from which no derogation is permitted. In the light of the importance of the protection afforded by Article 2, the Court must subject deprivation of life to the most careful scrutiny, taking into consideration not only the actions of State agents but also all the surrounding circumstances (see McCann and Others v. the United Kingdom, 27 September 1995, §§ 146 - 47, Series A No. 324, and {Avsar}, cited above, § 391).
92. The Court has already found it established that the applicants' relative must be presumed dead following his unacknowledged detention by State servicemen and that the death can be attributed to the State (see paragraph 84 above). In the absence of any justification in respect of the use of lethal force by State agents, the Court finds that there has been a violation of Article 2 in respect of Aslanbek Khamidov.
(b) The alleged inadequacy of the investigation of the kidnapping
93. The Court reiterates that the obligation to protect the right to life under Article 2 of the Convention, read in conjunction with the State's general duty under Article 1 of the Convention to "secure to everyone within [its] jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in [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 (see, mutatis mutandis, McCann and Others, cited above, § 161, and Kaya v. Turkey, 19 February 1998, § 86, Reports 1998-I). The essential purpose of such investigation
> 1 2 3 ... 10 11 12 ... 17 18 19
Zaki.ru законы и право
поиск по сайту
каталог документов
добавить сайт Zaki.ru в избранное
Правовые акты международные
Правовые акты Российской Федерации
