plication should be declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies since the investigation into the disappearance of the applicants' relatives had not yet been completed.
91. The applicants contested that objection. They argued that the criminal investigation had proved to be ineffective, having produced no meaningful results after six years.
92. The Court will examine the arguments of the parties in the light of the provisions of the Convention and its relevant practice (for a summary thereof, see Estamirov and Others v. Russia, No. 60272/00, § 73 - 74, 12 October 2006).
93. The Court observes that the applicants complained to the law-enforcement authorities shortly after the apprehension of their relatives and that the criminal proceedings have been pending since 18 June 2002. The applicants and the Government disagreed as to the effectiveness of the investigation into the complaint.
94. The Court considers that the Government's 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 this objection should be joined to the merits and falls to be examined below under the substantive provisions of the Convention.
II. Alleged violation of Article 2 of the Convention
95. The applicants complained under Article 2 of the Convention that their relatives had disappeared after having been detained by Russian servicemen and that the domestic authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the matter. Article 2 reads:
"1. Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.
2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary:
(a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;
(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;
(c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection."
A. The parties' submissions
96. The Government admitted that Mr Suliman Malikov, Mr Adlan Khatuyev, Mr Aslan Khatuyev, Mr Sayd-Salu Akhmatov and Mr Mansur Ismailov had been detained on 9 June 2002. However, they submitted that the applicants' relatives had been released the next day and that the domestic investigation had obtained no evidence to the effect that they were dead or that any servicemen of the federal law-enforcement agencies had been involved in their alleged killing. The Government further contended that the domestic investigation had been effective. They pointed out, in particular, that the first, third, fifth and seventh applicants had been granted victim status.
97. The applicants argued that while it had been established that their relatives had been detained by servicemen on 9 June 2002, the Government had failed to submit any explanations as to their fate. In the absence of any reliable news of them for several years, they should be presumed dead following their unlawful detention. The applicants also argued that the investigation had not met the standards of effectiveness and adequacy required by the Court's case-law on Article 2. The applicants pointed out that it had been suspended and resumed a number of times, thus delaying the taking of the most basic steps, and that the applicants had not been properly informed of the most important investigative measures. The fact that the investigation had been pending for over six years without producing any known results was further proof of its ineffectiveness. The a
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