had abducted Bekkhan Alaudinov had arrived in military vehicles late at night, which indicated that they had been able to circulate freely during the curfew. The men had acted in a manner similar to that of special forces carrying out identity checks. A few days after the abduction the applicant had recognised one of her son's abductors as he was entering the local military commander's office.
70. The Government submitted that unidentified armed men had kidnapped Bekkhan Alaudinov. They further contended that the investigation of the incident was pending, that there was no evidence that the men had been State agents and that there were therefore no grounds for holding the State liable for the alleged violations of the applicant's rights. They further argued that there was no convincing evidence that the applicant's son was dead. The Government also stated that the abduction could have been committed by unidentified criminals as retaliation for Bekkhan Alaudinov's attempts to investigative his uncle's murder or that it could have been a result of a blood feud. At the same time the Government pointed out that the applicant's submissions concerning the factual circumstances of her son's abduction were inconsistent. They pointed out that the applicant and the witnesses had not been consistent as to the number and type of military vehicles used during the abduction and that the applicant had not informed the investigators about seeing one of her son's abductors going into the military commander's office until two years after the events.
B. The Court's evaluation of the facts
71. The Court observes that in its extensive jurisprudence it has developed a number of general principles relating to the establishment of facts in dispute, in particular when faced with allegations of disappearance under Article 2 of the Convention (for a summary of these, see Bazorkina v. Russia, No. 69481/01, §§ 103 - 109, 27 July 2006). The Court also notes that the conduct of the parties when evidence is being obtained has to be taken into account (see Ireland v. the United Kingdom, cited above, § 161).
72. The Court notes that despite its requests for a copy of the investigation file on the abduction of Bekkhan Alaudinov, the Government did not produce any of the documents from the case file. The Government referred to Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Court observes that in previous cases it has already found this explanation insufficient to justify the withholding of key information requested by the Court (see Imakayeva v. Russia, No. 7615/02, § 123, ECHR 2006-... (extracts)).
73. In view of this and bearing in mind the principles referred to above, the Court finds that it can draw inferences from the Government's conduct in respect of the well-foundedness of the applicant's allegations. The Court will thus proceed to examine the crucial elements in the present case that should be taken into account when deciding whether the applicant's son can be presumed dead and whether his death can be attributed to the authorities.
74. The applicant alleged that the persons who had taken Bekkhan Alaudinov away on 8 November 2001 and then killed him had been State agents.
75. The Government suggested in their submission that the persons who had abducted Bekkhan Alaudinov could have been criminals or that he could have been kidnapped as a result of a blood feud. However, these allegations were not specific and the Government did not submit any material to support them. The Court would stress in this regard that the evaluation of the evidence and the establishment of the facts is a matter for the Court, and it is incumbent on it to decide on the evidentiary value of the documents submitted to it (see {Celikbilek} v. Turkey, No. 27693/95, § 71, 31 May 2005).
76. The Court notes tha
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