Постановление Европейского суда по правам человека от 12.02.2009 «Дело Мешаева и другие (Meshayeva and others) против России» [англ.]

e collected during the investigation (see paragraph 70 above).
101. The Court observes that where the applicants make out a prima facie case and the Court is prevented from reaching factual conclusions owing to the lack of relevant documents, it is for the Government to argue conclusively why the documents in question cannot serve to corroborate the allegations made by the applicants, or to provide a satisfactory and convincing explanation of how the events in question occurred. The burden of proof is thus shifted to the Government and if they fail in their arguments, issues will arise under Article 2 and/or Article 3 (see {Togcu} v. Turkey, No. 27601/95, § 95, 31 May 2005, and Akkum and Others v. Turkey, No. 21894/93, § 211, ECHR 2005-II).
102. Taking into account the above elements, the Court is satisfied that the applicants have made a prima facie case that their relatives were detained by State servicemen. The Government's statement that the investigation did not uncover any evidence to support the involvement of the special forces in the abduction is insufficient to discharge them from the above-mentioned burden of proof. Drawing inferences from the Government's failure to submit the documents which were in their exclusive possession or to provide another plausible explanation of the events in question, the Court considers that Leoma Meshayev and Bislan Saydayev were arrested on 17 December 2002 at their houses in Martan-Chu by State servicemen during an unacknowledged security operation.
103. There has been no reliable news of the applicants' relatives' since 17 December 2002. Their names have not been found in any official detention facilities' records. Finally, the Government did not submit any explanation as to what had happened to them after their arrest.
104. The Court notes with great concern that a number of cases have come before it which suggest that the phenomenon of "disappearances" is well known in Chechnya (see, among others, Bazorkina, cited above; Imakayeva, cited above; Luluyev and Others v. Russia, No. 69480/01, ECHR 2006-... (extracts); Baysayeva v. Russia, No. 74237/01, 5 April 2007; Akhmadova and Sadulayeva, cited above; and Alikhadzhiyeva v. Russia, No. 68007/01, 5 July 2007). The Court has already found that, in the context of the conflict in Chechnya, when a person is detained by unidentified servicemen without any subsequent acknowledgment of the detention, this can be regarded as life-threatening. The absence of Leoma Meshayev and Bislan Saydayev or of any news of them for six years supports this assumption. For the above reasons the Court considers that they must be presumed dead following unacknowledged detention by State servicemen.
105. The Court has already noted above that it has been unable to benefit from the results of the domestic investigation, owing to the Government's failure to disclose the documents from the file. Nevertheless, it is clear that the investigation did not lead to the identification of the perpetrators of the kidnapping. Furthermore, in cases involving disappearances, the Court finds it particularly regrettable that there should have been no thorough investigation of the relevant facts by the domestic prosecutors or courts. The few documents submitted by the Government from the investigation files opened by the district prosecutor do not suggest that any progress has been made for several years and, if anything, show the incomplete and inadequate nature of those proceedings. Moreover, the stance taken by the prosecutor's office and the other law-enforcement authorities after the news of the abductions was communicated to them by the applicants contributed significantly to the likelihood of their relatives' disappearance, as no necessary steps were taken in the crucial first days and weeks after the arrests. The authorities' behaviour in the face of the applicants' well-



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