e file documents, but they failed also to submit detailed account of relevant events, with the result that the Court it not even able to build a time line of the investigation. Nevertheless, it refers to the Government's assertion that the investigation in case No. 34051 was several times suspended and then resumed pursuant to supervising prosecutors' orders (see paragraph 31 above). Drawing inferences from the Government's failure to submit information on the course of the investigation, the Court considers it plausible to assume that there were certain periods of the authorities' inactivity when no proceedings were pending.
76. Moreover, it is unclear which particular measures the authorities took to investigate the disappearance of the applicant's son, apart from questioning the applicant and two of her family members, Mr L. Dzhabrailov and Ms L. Dhzabrailova, as witnesses or sending enquiries to State bodies. It is not unlikely that a number of essential investigative measures were either delayed or not taken at all. In this connection the Court notes the applicant's argument which remained uncontested by the Government that whilst the investigation had commenced in April 2003, the investigators had not inspected the scene of the incident until January 2008. It is clear that this investigative measure, if it were to produce any meaningful result, should have been taken immediately after the crime was reported to the authorities, and as soon as the investigation commenced. It also does not appear that any fair attempts were made to find any other witnesses, and, in particular, to identify and question servicemen who had been on duty at the federal checkpoints on the night of the incident, or to perform other investigative actions, as indicated by the applicant (see paragraph 68 above).
77. Lastly, the Court observes that it is unclear whether the applicant was declared a victim in the case concerning her son's disappearance. It can be ascertained from the Government's relevant submissions, assuming they are accurate, that the status of victim had been granted to Mr Khanpasha Dzhabrailov's other relatives, and namely to his wife, Ms Ya. Dzhabrailova, on 26 May 2003 and then to Mr L. Dzhabrailov on 15 June 2004. In any event, the applicant alleged that she or Mr Khanpasha Dzhabrailov's other relatives had not been properly informed of the course of the investigation, or even of the decisions suspending and reopening the proceedings. The Court, noting that the Government did not adduce any documents to refute this allegation by the applicant, considers that Mr Khanpasha Dzhabrailov's relatives were in fact excluded from the criminal investigation into his disappearance.
78. In the light of the foregoing, and with regard to the inferences drawn from the respondent Government's submission of evidence, the Court concludes that the authorities failed to carry out a thorough and effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Mr Khanpasha Dzhabrailov. It accordingly dismisses the Government's objection as regards the applicant's failure to exhaust domestic remedies within the context of the criminal proceedings, and holds that there has been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention on that account.
III. Alleged violation of Article 3 of the Convention
79. The applicant complained that she had serious grounds to believe that her son had been ill-treated while in the hands of the authorities. She further complained that she had suffered severe mental distress and anguish in connection with her son's disappearance and the lack of an adequate response on behalf of the authorities. The applicant referred to Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."<
> 1 2 3 ... 10 11 12 ... 14 15 16
Zaki.ru законы и право
поиск по сайту
каталог документов
добавить сайт Zaki.ru в избранное
Правовые акты международные
Правовые акты Российской Федерации
