. The Court also notes that even though the applicants' relatives were granted victim status in case No. 32000, they were only informed of the suspension and resumption of the proceedings, and not of any other significant developments. Accordingly, the investigators failed to ensure that the investigation received the required level of public scrutiny, or to safeguard the interests of the next of kin in the proceedings.
90. Finally, the Court notes that the investigation in case No. 32000 was suspended and resumed several times and that there were lengthy periods of inactivity of the investigators when no proceedings were pending. For instance, no proceedings whatsoever were pending between 6 March 2003 and 25 December 2003, between 24 January 2004 and 21 March 2005, between April 2005 and 22 August 2007.
91. Having regard to the limb of the Government's objection that was joined to the merits of the complaint, inasmuch as it concerns the fact that the domestic investigation is still pending, the Court notes that the investigation, having being repeatedly suspended and resumed and plagued by inexplicable delays, has been pending for many years having produced no tangible results. Accordingly, the Court finds that the remedy relied on by the Government was ineffective in the circumstances and dismisses their objection as regards the applicants' failure to exhaust domestic remedies within the context of the criminal investigation.
92. 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 Abubakar Bantayev and Salman Bantayev, in breach of Article 2 in its procedural aspect.
V. Alleged violation of Article 3 of the Convention
93. The applicants relied on Article 3 of the Convention, alleging that upon their abduction Abubakar and Salman Bantayev were subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment. The applicants further complained that as a result of their relatives' disappearance and the State's failure to investigate it properly, they had endured mental suffering in breach of Article 3 of the Convention. Article 3 reads:
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
A. The parties' submissions
94. The Government disagreed with these allegations and argued that the investigation had not established that the applicants, Abubakar Bantayev and Salman Bantayev had been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention.
95. In their observations on the admissibility and merits of the application the applicants submitted that they no longer wished to have the complaint regarding alleged ill-treatment of Abubakar and Salman Bantayev examined. They further reiterated the complaint concerning the mental suffering endured.
B. The Court's assessment
(a) The complaint concerning the ill-treatment of Abubakar and Salman Bantayev
96. The Court, having regard to Article 37 of the Convention, finds that the applicants do not intend to pursue this part of the application, within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a). The Court also finds no reasons of a general character, affecting respect for human rights, as defined in the Convention, which require further examination of the present complaints by virtue of Article 37 § 1 of the Convention in fine (see, for example, Chojak v. Poland, No. 32220/96, Commission decision of 23 April 1998, unpublished; Singh and Others v. the United Kingdom (dec.), No. 30024/96, 26 September 2000; and Stamatios Karagiannis v. Greece, No. 27806/02, § 28, 10 February 2005).
97. It follows that this part of the application must be struck out in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention
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