earance of Leoma Meshayev and Bislan Saydayev, in breach of Article 2 in its procedural aspect.
IV. Alleged violation of Article 3 of the Convention
121. The applicants also relied on Article 3 of the Convention, submitting that as a result of their relatives' disappearance and the State's failure to investigate those events 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."
122. 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 to be a direct victim of the authorities' conduct (see, among other authorities, Orhan, cited above, § 358).
123. In the present case the Court notes that the first, second and fourth to seventh applicants are the wife, brother and children of Leoma Meshayev. The ninth, tenth, eleventh, fourteenth and fifteenth applicants are brothers and mother of Bislan Saydayev. Most of them were eyewitnesses to the arrest. For six years they have not had any news of them. During this period the applicants have applied to various official bodies with enquiries about their family members, both in writing and in person. Despite their attempts, they have never received any plausible explanation or information as to what became of their family members following their detention. The responses received by the applicants mostly denied that the State was responsible for their arrest or simply informed them that an investigation was ongoing. The Court's findings under the procedural aspect of Article 2 are also of direct relevance here.
124. In view of the above, the Court finds that the first, second, fourth to seventh, ninth, tenth, eleventh, fourteenth and fifteenth applicants suffered, and continue to suffer, distress and anguish as a result of the disappearance of their family members and their inability to find out what happened to them. The manner in which their complaints have been dealt with by the authorities must be considered to constitute inhuman treatment contrary to Article 3.
125. In relation to the complaint under Article 3 brought by the third, eighth, twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth applicants, the Court notes that their relationship with the disappeared individuals is much more distant. Nor has it been demonstrated that any of the special considerations listed above in paragraph 123 apply to these applicants. In such circumstances, the Court, while accepting that the events of 17 December 2002 might have been a source of considerable distress to this group of applicants, is nevertheless unable to conclude that their mental suffering was distinct from the inevitable emotional distress in a situation such as the one in the present case and that it was serious enough to fall within the ambit of Article 3 of the Convention.
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