to question the effectiveness of the investigation. They argued that the authorities had failed to keep them informed about the progress in the investigation, thus making it difficult in practice to challenge the course of the investigation.
75. The Court considers that the Government's objection as to the exhaustion of domestic remedies raises issues which are closely linked to the question of the effectiveness of the investigation. It therefore decides to join this objection to the merits of the applicant's complaint under the procedural limb of Article 2 of the Convention.
III. Alleged violation of Article 2 of the Convention
76. The applicants complained that their eight relatives had been killed by federal servicemen and that no effective investigation had been conducted into the deaths of the eight men. They relied on Article 2 of the Convention, which provides:
"1. Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.
2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary:
(a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;
(c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection."
A. Admissibility
77. The Court notes that this part of the application is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
B. Merits
1. Alleged failure to protect the right to life
(a) Submissions by the parties
78. The applicants argued that it was beyond reasonable doubt that their eight relatives had been detained by federal servicemen. They submitted that in March 2004 the village of Duba-Yurt had been under the firm control of the Russian armed forces, and that these forces had established a military commander's office, a police office and check-points at all roads leading to and from the village. The applicants further submitted that the perpetrators, who spoke unaccented Russian, had arrived during the night in armoured personnel carriers, this latter fact having been confirmed by a number of eye-witnesses during their interviews with the investigating authorities and in their statements submitted to the Court, and acknowledged by the Government. The applicants argued that heavy military vehicles, such as armoured personnel carriers, could only have belonged to the federal forces. The applicants also submitted that three out of the eleven residents of Duba-Yurt apprehended on 27 March 2004 had subsequently been released in another village, that is, after the perpetrators had passed a check-point when leaving Duba-Yurt without impediment. Lastly, the applicants referred to the report of the military commander of Duba-Yurt, dated 30 March 2004, in which he had stated that on 27 March 2004 federal forces had carried out a special operation in the village of Duba-Yurt during which the applicants' eight relatives had been apprehended and delivered to the federal military base in Khankala. In the applicants' opinion, the military commander would never have based his report on information which he doubted.
79. The Government acknowledged that the applicants' eight relatives had been abducted from their homes and later found dead. They argued, however, that the Russian authorities were not responsible for the actions of the unidentified person
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