to life
1. Submissions by the parties
65. The applicants argued that it was beyond reasonable doubt that Isa Zaurbekov had been detained by representatives of the federal forces, this fact being confirmed by two eyewitness statements, which they had previously submitted to the Court, and by the statements of Mr Sh. contained in the file on criminal case No. 20123. They also pointed out that the investigating authorities had established the fact that the armed men who had taken Isa Zaurbekov away had used armoured personnel carriers and argued that such military vehicles had been in the exclusive possession of the federal armed forces. The applicants stressed that their relative had been apprehended in life-endangering circumstances, and the fact that he had remained missing for over three years and the Government's failure to provide any plausible explanation as to his fate proved that he had been killed. The applicants also argued that the special operation carried out on the aforementioned date had not been properly planned and supervised by the authorities to ensure that it met the requirements of Article 2 of the Convention.
66. The Government relied on the information provided by the Prosecutor General's Office and contended that the investigation had not obtained any evidence to the effect that Isa Zaurbekov was dead, or that representatives of the federal power structures had been involved in his abduction or alleged killing. They expressed doubts that any reliance could be placed on the eyewitness statement by Ms M.-M., submitted by the applicants (see paragraph 13 above), given that this statement contradicted the information given by Ms M.-M. to the investigating authorities during her interview (see paragraph 45 above). The Government insisted that until the circumstances of Isa Zaurbekov's abduction, and the identity of the persons involved, had been established, there were no grounds to claim that his right to life secured by Article 2 of the Convention had been breached by the State.
2. The Court's assessment
67. The Court reiterates that, in the light of the importance of the protection afforded by Article 2, it must subject deprivations of life to the most careful scrutiny, taking into consideration not only the actions of State agents but also all the surrounding circumstances. It has held on many occasions that, where an individual is taken into police custody in good health and is found to be injured on release, it is incumbent on the State to provide a plausible explanation of how those injuries were caused. The obligation on the authorities to account for the treatment of an individual within their control is particularly stringent where that individual dies or disappears thereafter (see, among other authorities, Orhan v. Turkey, No. 25656/94, § 326, 18 June 2002, and the authorities cited therein). Where the events in issue lie wholly, or in large part, within the exclusive knowledge of the authorities, as in the case of persons within their control in detention, strong presumptions of fact will arise in respect of injuries and death occurring during that detention. Indeed, the burden of proof may be regarded as resting on the authorities to provide a satisfactory and convincing explanation (see Salman v. Turkey [GC], No. 21986/93, § 100, ECHR 2000-VII, and {Cakici} v. Turkey [GC], No. 23657/94, § 85, ECHR 1999-IV).
68. In the present case, the Court observes that although the Government denied the State's responsibility for the abduction and disappearance of the applicants' relative, they acknowledged the specific facts underlying the applicants' version of events. In particular, it is common ground between the parties that Isa Zaurbekov was abducted from his home by men in camouflage uniforms armed with automatic firearms during the night of 11 February 2003. It has
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