tion the authorities seem to have questioned a number of residents of Duba-Yurt, including some of the applicants and other relatives of those went missing and two men who had been taken away and then released, with regard to the events of 27 March 2004.
90. Also, as alleged by the Government, the criminal proceedings in connection with the murder of the applicants' eight relatives had been instituted on 9 April 2004, the date on which their corpses were found. On the same date the investigators examined the bodies and showed them to the relatives of those killed for identification. They also appear to have inspected the crime scene and performed a number of other expert examinations (see paragraphs 52 and 53 above).
91. On the other hand, a number of essential steps were taken with some delay, or not at all. In particular, despite the fact that the military commander of the Shali District reported on 30 March 2004 that the applicants' relatives had been apprehended on 27 March 2004 in the course of a special operation conducted by the federal forces and delivered in the federal military base in Khankala, it does not appear that the investigating authorities took any measures to verify this information in a situation where prompt action was vital. They neither inspected the territory of the military base nor questioned the officers in command there. Moreover, the military commander of the Shali District was not interviewed in connection with the incident of 27 March 2004 and his report of 30 March 2004 until 7 May 2004, that is, several weeks after the incident.
92. Further, the Court cannot but agree with the applicants that the authorities do not appear to have attempted to question Mr Umar Elmurzayev, one of the three men who was apprehended and then released on 27 March 2004, or the servicemen from the check-points in Duba-Yurt who had been on duty on the night of the abduction. Moreover, despite the fact that the residents of Duba-Yurt consistently stated that the applicants' relatives had been taken away by federal servicemen, it does not appear that any military officers were questioned during the first two weeks following the abduction, when the applicants' relatives remained missing.
93. The Court also observes that the authorities carried out only an initial examination of the bodies of the applicants' eight relatives on the day when they were found, but did not proceed with an autopsy, with the result that the forensic expert was unable to answer all the questions on the circumstances of the deaths of the applicants' relatives (see paragraph 66 above).
94. Furthermore, even assuming that the relatives of the eight killed men were at some point granted the status of victims, as alleged by the Government, it does not appear that they were properly informed of the course of the investigation. The letters sent to them by the authorities did not even indicate the dates on which the criminal proceedings had been instituted or suspended, let alone provided any details concerning the investigation (see paragraphs 39 - 41 above). Further, it does not appear, and the Government did not submit any arguments or documents in this respect, that the applicants received any information regarding the investigation after June 2004.
95. Lastly, the Court notes that it is unclear, since the Government provided no information on this point, whether any investigative actions were taken in the period from 7 May 2004, the latest date indicated by the Government on which, as they claim, an investigative action was taken, when, namely the military commander of the Shali District was questioned (see paragraph 47 above), to 16 June 2008, the date of the Government's latest submissions.
96. In the light of the foregoing, and with regard to the inferences drawn from the respondent Government's submission of evidence, the Court is bound t
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