cemen in the imputed offence. The Government thus insisted that they had fulfilled their procedural obligation under Article 2 of the Convention.
(b) The Court's assessment
87. 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", 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, in particular by agents of the State. The investigation must be effective in the sense that it is capable of leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible (see {Ogur} v. Turkey [GC], No. 21594/93, § 88, ECHR 1999-III). In particular, there is an implicit requirement of promptness and reasonable expedition (see {Yasa} v. Turkey, 2 September 1998, § 102 - 04, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998-VI, and Mahmut Kaya v. Turkey, No. 22535/93, §§ 106 - 07, ECHR 2000-III). It must be accepted that there may be obstacles or difficulties which prevent progress in an investigation in a particular situation. However, a prompt response by the authorities in investigating the use of lethal force may generally be regarded as essential in maintaining public confidence in the maintenance of the rule of law and in preventing any appearance of collusion in or tolerance of unlawful acts. For the same reasons, there must be a sufficient element of public scrutiny of the investigation or its results to secure accountability in practice as well as in theory. The degree of public scrutiny required may well vary from case to case. In all cases, however, the next of kin of the victim must be involved in the procedure to the extent necessary to safeguard his or her legitimate interests (see Shanaghan v. the United Kingdom, No. 37715/97, §§ 91 - 92, 4 May 2001).
88. In the instant case, the Court observes that some degree of investigation was carried out into the abduction and killing of the applicants' family members. It must assess whether that investigation met the requirements of Article 2 of the Convention. In this respect the Court notes that its knowledge of the criminal proceedings at issue is limited to the materials from the investigation file selected by the respondent Government (see paragraphs 64 - 65 above). Drawing inferences from the respondent Government's conduct when evidence is being obtained (see Ireland v. the United Kingdom, 18 January 1978, § 161, Series A No. 25), the Court assumes that the materials made available to it have been selected so as to demonstrate to the maximum extent possible the effectiveness of the investigation in question. It will therefore assess the merits of this complaint on the basis of the existing elements in the file and in the light of these inferences.
89. The Court observes that the authorities were made aware of the incident of 27 March 2004 on that same day (see paragraphs 36 and 47 above). It appears that initially the authorities took certain steps to investigate the events in question. In particular, on 29 March 2004 they inspected the crime scene at the houses from which Bayali Elmurzayev, Sharip Elmurzayev, Khusin and Isa Khadzhimuradov, Apti Murtazov and Idris Elmurzayev had been taken (see paragraph 65 above). According to the Government, the authorities also inspected the houses from which Lechi Shaipov and Zelimkhan Osmayev had been taken (see paragraph 45 above). On the same date the district prosecutor's office sent the materials concerning the abduction of the applicants' relatives to the district office of the interior (see paragraph 65 above), and, in the Government's submission, on 31 March 2004 criminal proceedings were instituted in that connection. During the investiga
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