Court's proper examination of the complaint both at the admissibility and at the merits stage (see {Tanrikulu} v. Turkey [GC], No. 23763/94, § 70, ECHR 1999-IV). The Court would also stress in this regard that the evaluation of the evidence and the establishment of the facts is a matter for the Court, and it is incumbent on it to decide on the evidentiary value of the documents submitted to it (see {Celikbilek} v. Turkey, No. 27693/95, § 71, 31 May 2005).
140. Reiterating the importance of a respondent Government's cooperation in Convention proceedings, the Court finds that there has been a breach of the obligation laid down in Article 38 § 1 (a) of the Convention to furnish all necessary facilities to assist the Court in its task of establishing the facts.
C. The Court's evaluation of the facts
141. The Court observes that it has developed a number of general principles relating to the establishment of facts in dispute, in particular when faced with allegations of disappearance under Article 2 of the Convention (for a summary of these, see Bazorkina v. Russia, No. 69481/01, §§ 103 - 109, 27 July 2006). The Court also notes that the conduct of the parties when evidence is being obtained has to be taken into account (see Ireland v. the United Kingdom, 18 January 1978, § 161, Series A No. 25). In view of this, and bearing in mind the principles referred to above, the Court finds that it can draw inferences from the Government's conduct in respect of the well-foundedness of the applicants' allegations. The Court will thus proceed to examine crucial elements in the present case that should be taken into account when deciding whether the deaths of the applicants' relatives can be attributed to the authorities.
1. As regards Magomed Shakhgiriyev, Ali Magomadov,
Ismail Umarov and Umalat Abayev
142. The applicants alleged that the persons who had taken Magomed Shakhgiriyev, Ali Magomadov, Ismail Umarov and Umalat Abayev away on 23 October 2002 and then killed them had been State agents.
143. The Government suggested in their submission that the persons who had detained Magomed Shakhgiriyev, Ali Magomadov, Ismail Umarov and Umalat Abayev could have been members of paramilitary groups. However, this allegation was not specific and they did not submit any material to support it. The reference to other criminal cases where members of criminal gangs had used camouflage uniforms or forged documents does not invalidate the information collected in the present case attesting to the carrying out of a security operation. Furthermore, from the information reviewed by the Court it does not appear that the domestic investigation has ever considered this possibility.
144. The Court notes that, on the contrary, the applicants' version of the events is supported by the witness statements collected by the applicants and by the investigation. The applicant and the neighbours stated that the perpetrators had acted in a manner similar to that of a security operation - they had checked the residents' identity documents, and they had spoken Russian among themselves and to the residents. Some witnesses also referred to the use of military vehicles such as APCs, which could not be available to paramilitary groups (see, for example, paragraphs 91 and 93 above). In the only witness statement produced by the Government from the investigation file No. 56166, the witness referred to them as "military" (see paragraph 96 above). In their applications to the authorities the applicants consistently maintained that their relatives had been detained by unknown servicemen and requested the investigation to look into that possibility. Finally, some of the documents issued by the investigation directly mentioned the carrying out of a security operation (see paragraph 99 above).
145. The Court finds t
> 1 2 3 ... 17 18 19 ... 27 28 29
Zaki.ru законы и право
поиск по сайту
каталог документов
добавить сайт Zaki.ru в избранное
Правовые акты международные
Правовые акты Российской Федерации
