blished. The two men who had allegedly been detained with Vakha Saydaliyev in Stavropol were not identified. The applicants had been duly informed of all decisions taken during the investigation.
65. Despite specific requests by the Court the Government did not disclose most of the contents of criminal case No. 59186, providing only copies of the record of the first applicant's interview of 23 September 2002 and of several notifications to the first applicant. Relying on the information obtained from the Prosecutor General's Office, the Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the file contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.
II. Relevant domestic law
66. For a summary of relevant domestic law see Akhmadova and Sadulayeva v. Russia (No. 40464/02, § 67 - 69, 10 May 2007).
THE LAW
I. The Government's objection as to abuse
of the right of petition
67. The Government submitted that the application had not been lodged in order to restore the allegedly violated rights of the applicants. The actual object and purpose of the application was clearly political as the applicants wanted to "get an opportunity to bring an action against the Russian Federation, whose policy on the territory of the Chechen Republic allegedly contravenes the Convention". They concluded that there had been an abuse of the right of petition on the part of the applicants and that the application should be dismissed pursuant to Article 35 § 3 of the Convention.
68. The Court observes that the complaints the applicants brought to its attention concerned their genuine grievances. Nothing in the case file reveals any appearance of abuse of their right of individual petition. Accordingly, the Government's objection must be dismissed.
II. The Government's objection regarding non-exhaustion
of domestic remedies
A. The parties' submissions
69. The Government contended that the application should be declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. They submitted that the investigation of the disappearance of Vakha Saydaliyev had not yet been completed. They further argued that it had been open to the applicants to challenge either in court or before higher prosecutors any actions or omissions of the investigating or other law-enforcement authorities, but that the applicants had not availed themselves of those remedies. They also argued that it had been open to the applicants to lodge civil claims for damages caused by the investigators' actions but they had failed to do so.
70. The applicants contested that objection. They stated that the criminal investigation pending for more than five years had proved to be ineffective. With reference to the Court's practice, they argued that they had not been obliged to bring civil claims before courts in order to exhaust domestic remedies.
B. The Court's assessment
71. The Court reiterates that the rule of exhaustion of domestic remedies under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention obliges applicants to use first the remedies which are available and sufficient in the domestic legal system to enable them to obtain redress for the breaches alleged. The existence of the remedies must be sufficiently certain both in theory and in practice, failing which they will lack the requisite accessibility and effectiveness. Article 35 § 1 also requires that complaints intended to be brought subsequently before the Court should have been made to the appropriate domestic body, at least in substance and in compliance wi
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