ried out promptly could no longer usefully be conducted. Therefore, it is highly doubtful that the remedies relied on would have had any prospects of success. Accordingly, the Court finds that the criminal law remedies relied on by the Government were ineffective in the circumstances of the case and rejects their objection as regards the applicants' failure to exhaust these domestic remedies.
118. In the light of the foregoing, the Court holds that the authorities failed to carry out an effective criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Vakha Saydaliyev, in breach of Article 2 in its procedural aspect.
V. Alleged violation of Article 3 of the Convention
119. The applicants complained that as a result of their relative's disappearance and the State's failure to investigate it properly they had endured mental and emotional suffering in breach of Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
A. The parties' submissions
120. The Government disagreed with these allegations and argued that the investigation had not established that the applicants had been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention.
121. The applicants maintained their submissions.
B. The Court's assessment
1. Admissibility
122. The Court notes that this complaint 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.
2. Merits
123. The Court observes that the question whether a member of the family of a "disappeared person" is a victim of treatment contrary to Article 3 will depend on the existence of special factors which give the suffering of the applicants a dimension and character distinct from the emotional distress which may be regarded as inevitably caused to relatives of a victim of a serious human rights violation. Relevant elements will include the proximity of the family tie, the particular circumstances of the relationship, the extent to which the family member witnessed the events in question, the involvement of the family member in the attempts to obtain information about the disappeared person and the way in which the authorities responded to those enquiries. The Court would further emphasise that the essence of such a violation does not mainly lie in the fact of the "disappearance" of the family member but rather concerns the authorities' reactions and attitudes to the situation when it is brought to their attention. It is especially in respect of the latter that a relative may claim directly to be a victim of the authorities' conduct (see Orhan v. Turkey, No. 25656/94, § 358, 18 June 2002, and Imakayeva, cited above, § 164).
124. In the present case the Court notes that the missing person was a son of the first applicant, the life companion of the second applicant and a brother of the third applicant. It appears that it was only the first and second applicants who made various applications and enquiries to the domestic authorities in connection with Vakha Saydaliyev's disappearance. No evidence has been submitted to the Court that the third applicant was in any manner involved in the search for Vakha Saydaliyev (see, by contrast, Luluyev and Others, cited above, § 112). In such circumstances, the Court, while accepting that the events of 16 April 2002 might have been a source of considerable distress to the third applicant, is nevertheless unable to conclude that her mental and emotional suffering was distinct from the inevitable emotional distress in a situation such as i
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