d been futile. They also alleged the existence of an administrative practice of non-investigation of crimes committed by State servicemen in Chechnya and referred to the other cases concerning such crimes reviewed by the Court, as well as reports of various NGOs and international bodies.
B. The Court's assessment
57. In the present case, the Court took no decision about the exhaustion of domestic remedies at the admissibility stage, having found that this question was too closely linked to the merits. It will now proceed to examine the arguments of the parties in the light of the provisions of the Convention and its relevant practice (for a relevant summary, see Estamirov and Others v. Russia, No. 60272/00, § 73 - 74, 12 October 2006).
58. The Court notes that the Russian legal system provides, in principle, two avenues of recourse for the victims of illegal and criminal acts attributable to the State or its agents, namely civil and criminal remedies.
59. As regards a civil action to obtain redress for damage sustained through the alleged illegal acts or unlawful conduct of State agents, the Court has already found in a number of similar cases that this procedure alone cannot be regarded as an effective remedy in the context of claims brought under Article 2 of the Convention (see Khashiyev and Akayeva v. Russia, Nos. 57942/00 and 57945/00, §§ 119 - 121, 24 February 2005, and Estamirov and Others, cited above, § 77). In the light of the above, the Court confirms that the applicants were not obliged to pursue civil remedies. The preliminary objection in this regard is thus dismissed.
60. As regards criminal law remedies, the Court observes that the applicants complained to the law enforcement authorities after the detention of Aslanbek Astamirov and that an investigation has been pending since December 2002. The applicants and the Government dispute the effectiveness of this investigation.
61. The Court considers that this limb of the Government's preliminary objection raises issues concerning the effectiveness of the criminal investigation which are closely linked to the merits of the applicants' complaints. Thus, it considers that these matters fall to be examined below under the substantive provisions of the Convention.
II. The Court's assessment of the evidence
and the establishment of the facts
A. The parties' arguments
62. The applicants submitted that the representatives of the State should be held responsible for the unlawful detention and killing of Aslanbek Astamirov. They stated that since their relative had been missing for a very lengthy period, it could be presumed that he was dead. That presumption was further supported by the circumstances in which he had been arrested, which should be recognised as life-threatening. The applicants contended that their relative had been detained within the context of a security operation. In support of their complaint they referred to the facts that the men had spoken Russian without any accent, worn camouflage uniforms and were armed with automatic weapons. Moreover, the men had arrived late at night, which indicated that they were able to circulate freely during the curfew, despite the presence of roadblocks in the village. They also stated that the Government's failure to produce the documents from the case file or to provide a plausible explanation of the events had put the burden of proof on the Government, who should be obliged to prove that their agents were not responsible for the arbitrary detention and killing of Mr Astamirov.
63. In their observations submitted in April 2006 the Government submitted that on 5 August 2002 "unidentified masked men in camouflage uniforms armed with machine guns" had abducted Aslanbek Astamirov. They further contended that the investigation into t
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