The ECHR case of Dzhabrailovy v. Russia (application no. 3678\/06).<\/p>\n
.<\/span><\/p>\n .<\/span><\/p>\n \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 408<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 20.05.2010<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Press release issued by the Registrar<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Chamber Judgment <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n KILLING, UNLAWFUL DETENTION AND INEFFECTIVE INVESTIGATION OF ILL-TREATMENT COMPLAINTS IN CHECHNYA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Two violations of Article 2 (right to life),<\/span><\/p>\n Violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment)<\/span><\/p>\n Violation of Article 5 (right to liberty and security)<\/span><\/p>\n Violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) in conjunction with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights<\/span><\/p>\n Principal facts<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The applicants are Mr Aslan Dzhabrailov, who was born in 1979, Ms Umkusu Dzhabrailova, who was born in 1949 and Ms Larisa Dzhabrailova, who was born in 1977. They live in Grozny, Chechnya. The first applicant is the brother of Valid Dzhabrailov, who was born in 1973; the second and third applicants are respectively his mother and sister.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the applicants, they were all at home on 16 February 2003 when, at about 7\u00a0a.m., a group of armed masked men in camouflage uniforms arrived at their gate with several motor vehicles. The men broke into the house and dispersed into different rooms without identifying themselves or producing any documents. They woke up violently all applicants threatening to shoot them if they moved. Then they forced the two brothers to the floor, handcuffed them and blindfolded Valid Dzhabrailov. Then they took their passports, beat them and dragged them outside and onto a military vehicle after which they drove away.<\/span><\/p>\n When they arrived at the point of destination, the two brothers had plastic bags put over their heads and were then forced to crawl into a cemented basement, where they were left cold and bleeding in separate cells. Aslan could hear from his cell his brother, detained in the same building, scream when interrogated. Aslan himself was also repeatedly beaten severely while interrogated and was not given any food or drink during two days of his detention. He was pressured to confess to being involved in an illegal armed group.<\/span><\/p>\n On 18 February 2003, Aslan was taken out of the basement, a plastic bag over his head, into a military car where he felt the cold dead body of his brother on the floor. The two brothers were driven to an abandoned building of a former chemical plant in the Zavodskoy district of Grozny. One of the men shot Aslan in the head following which the two brothers were thrown into a pit under a piece of a construction block. The men then laid explosives on Aslan, placed Valid\u2019s body on top, lit the fuse and drove away.<\/span><\/p>\n Aslan, still alive but having passed for dead, managed to set himself free and throw the explosives away before they blew up. He then ran out into the street and stopped the driver of a passing car who drove him home. He did not seek medical help immediately upon his return, but was examined by a doctor in December 2003 and August 2004. Those medical reports registered that he was suffering from pain in the skull, asthenia and neurosis.<\/span><\/p>\n Valid\u2019s body was discovered on 18 February 2003 by the applicants on the same place where Aslan had left it. According to the applicants, it bore signs of torture; in particular his palms and feet were crushed and the head was hardly recognisable. He was buried soon afterwards before anyone had contacted medical institutions or law enforcement authorities. A medical statement and a death certificate were issued confirming his death.<\/span><\/p>\n The Government did not challenge the facts as presented by the applicants. However, they pointed out that the investigation file contained neither a mention of the first applicant\u2019s beating in the car following the abduction nor his assertion that he had heard Valid Dzhabrailov screaming from being beaten while in detention.<\/span><\/p>\n Since 16\u00a0February 2003 the applicants have repeatedly applied in person and in writing to various public bodies, including the district department of the Ministry of the Interior (the ROVD) and prosecutors at various levels asking for assistance and details of the investigation. An investigation into the abduction of both brothers was opened on 18\u00a0February 2003 by the Grozny district prosecutor and the applicants were granted victim status on the following day. A number of investigative steps were undertaken, however, the investigation was suspended and resumed several times for failure to identify the perpetrators. The applicants complained to the prosecutor on three occasions about it being ineffective.<\/span><\/p>\n The Government submitted that the investigation was still in progress as perpetrators of the abduction and the killing had not been identified, but steps were being taken to have the crime resolved.<\/span><\/p>\n Complaints, procedure and composition of the Court<\/span><\/p>\n Relying in particular on Articles 2, 3, 5 and 13, the applicants complained about the two brothers having been abducted, and about Valid having been subsequently killed, by Russian servicemen, and that the domestic authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 19\u00a0January\u00a02006.<\/span><\/p>\n Judgment was given by a Chamber of seven, composed as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n Christos Rozakis (Greece), President, Decision of the Court<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Right to life (Article 2)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Court noted that the applicants\u2019 version of the events had been supported by the witness statements and by the investigation. The applicants had consistently maintained in their complaints before the authorities that the abduction and the subsequent killing had been perpetrated by military servicemen and had kept asking the investigation to look into that possibility. The fact that a large group of armed men in uniform equipped with a number of vehicles had proceeded to check identity documents and arrest the Dzhabrailov brothers at their home in a town area had strongly supported that allegation. However, no steps had been taken to verify the involvement of State servicemen in the abduction and the subsequent killing. Having drawn inferences from the Government\u2019s failure to submit the documents which were in their exclusive possession or to provide any explanation of the events in question, the Court found that Aslan and Valid had been arrested on 16\u00a0February 2003 at their home by State servicemen during an unacknowledged security operation and that Valid had been subsequently killed by State servicemen. There had accordingly been a violation of Article 2.<\/span><\/p>\n Investigation of the abduction and killing (Article 2)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The fact that almost six years after the crime had occurred, and the investigation had been opened, the most basic investigative steps had not been taken yet demonstrated the incomplete and inadequate nature of the investigation. Further, the reaction of the law-enforcement authorities, after the applicants informed them of the circumstances of the abduction, had contributed significantly to Valid\u2019s killing because no necessary steps had been taken in the crucial first hours and days after the arrest. The authorities\u2019 behaviour in the face of the applicants\u2019 well-substantiated complaints suggested that they had been at least acquiescent in the situation and raised strong doubts about the objectivity of the investigation, which had been suspended and resumed several times leaving much needed investigative steps untaken. The applicants had only been kept abreast of the suspension and resumption of the investigation, but not of other significant developments. Moreover, owing to the time that had elapsed since the events, certain investigative\u00a0measures that ought to have been carried out much earlier could no longer usefully be conducted. Accordingly, the authorities had failed to carry out an effective criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abduction and the death of Valid, in breach of Article\u00a02.<\/span><\/p>\n Torture and no effective investigation into it (Article 3)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Court found that it did not have sufficient evidence to conclude that Aslan had been tortured, given that it only had at its disposal Aslan\u2019s own submissions and medical documents dated 10 and 18 months after the events. Therefore it rejected this complaint.<\/span><\/p>\n However, Aslan had complained before the prosecutor about having been ill-treated and his complaints had not been examined properly. Consequently, there had been a violation of Article 3 in this respect.<\/span><\/p>\n Unlawful detention (Article 5)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Court had already established that Aslan and Valid had been detained by State servicemen on 16\u00a0February 2003. Their detention had not been acknowledged, had not been logged in any custody records and no official trace existed of it. In accordance with the Court\u2019s practice, this fact in itself had to be considered a most serious failing because it enabled those responsible to conceal their involvement in a crime, to cover their tracks and to escape accountability for the fate of a detainee. Furthermore, the absence of detention records, noting the date, time and location, the name of the detainee and the persons detaining them, and the reasons for the detention, was incompatible with the very purpose of Article 5. Consequently, the Court found that Aslan and Valid had been held in unacknowledged detention without any of the safeguards contained in Article 5 which had constituted a particularly grave violation of the right to liberty and security as protected under Article 5.<\/span><\/p>\n Right to an effective remedy (Article 13) in conjunction with Article 2<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Court noted that the criminal investigation into the abduction of the two brothers and the violent death of one of them had been ineffective. In addition, the effectiveness of any other remedy that may have existed, including civil remedies, had been consequently undermined. Accordingly, there had been a violation of Article 13 in conjunction with Article 2 of the Convention.<\/span><\/p>\n Just satisfaction (Article 41)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Court held\u00a0that\u00a0Russia is to pay to 3,500 euros (EUR) to the mother of Aslan and Valid in respect of pecuniary damage, as well as sums ranging between EUR 10,000 and EUR 41,200 to each applicant separately in respect of non-pecuniary damage, and EUR 5,500 for costs and expenses.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n CASE OF DZHABRAILOVY v. RUSSIA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n (Application no. 3678\/06)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n JUDGMENT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n STRASBOURG<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 20 May 2010<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This judgment will become final in the circumstances set out in Article\u00a044 \u00a7\u00a02 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision.<\/span><\/p>\n In the case of Dzhabrailovy v. Russia,<\/span><\/p>\n The European Court of Human Rights (First Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:<\/span><\/p>\n Christos Rozakis, President, Having deliberated in private on 29 April 2010,<\/span><\/p>\n Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:<\/span><\/p>\n PROCEDURE<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0The case originated in an application (no. 3678\/06) against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (\u201cthe Convention\u201d) by three Russian nationals listed below (\u201cthe applicants\u201d), on 19 January 2006.<\/span><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0The applicants were represented by lawyers from the Stichting Russian Justice Initiative (\u201cSRJI\u201d), an NGO based in the Netherlands with a representative office in Russia. The Russian Government (\u201cthe Government\u201d) were represented by their Agent, Mr\u00a0G. Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights.<\/span><\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0The applicants alleged that the first applicant and their relative, Mr\u00a0Valid Dzhabrailov, had been abducted by State servicemen in Chechnya in\u00a0February 2003 and that those State servicemen had subsequently killed the latter. They complained under Articles 2, 3, 5 and 13.<\/span><\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0On 30 April 2008 the Court decided to apply Rule\u00a041 of the Rules of Court and to grant priority treatment to the application and to give notice of the application to the Government. Under the provisions of Article 29 \u00a7 3 of the Convention, it decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.<\/span><\/p>\n 5.\u00a0\u00a0The Government objected to the joint examination of the admissibility and merits of the application. Having considered the Government\u2019s objection, the Court dismissed it.<\/span><\/p>\n THE FACTS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I.\u00a0\u00a0THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE<\/span><\/p>\n 6.\u00a0\u00a0The applicants are Mr Aslan (also known as Lukman) Dzhabrailov, who was born in 1979, Ms Umkusu Dzhabrailova, who was born in 1949 and Ms Larisa Dzhabrailova, who was born in 1977. They live in Grozny, Chechnya. The first applicant is the brother of Valid (also spelled as Volid and also known as Lecha) Dzhabrailov, who was born in 1973; the second applicant is his mother and the third applicant is his sister.<\/span><\/p>\n 7.\u00a0\u00a0The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.<\/span><\/p>\n A.\u00a0Abduction of Aslan and Valid Dzhabrailov<\/span><\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0Events of 16-18 February 2003<\/span><\/p>\n a. Abduction of the first applicant and Valid Dzhabrailov<\/span><\/p>\n 8.\u00a0\u00a0At the material time the applicants and Valid Dzhabrailov lived at 104\u00a0Sovetskaya Street in the settlement of Pervomayskiy, in the Grozny district, Chechnya. At about 7 a.m. on 16 February 2003 (in the submitted documents the date was also referred to as 15 February 2003) the applicants and Valid Dzhabrailov were at home, when a group of armed masked men in camouflage uniforms arrived at their gate. The men arrived in a white GAZ car (\u201c\u0413\u0430\u0437\u0435\u043b\u044c\u201d), a blue VAZ-2121 car (\u201c\u041d\u0438\u0432\u0430\u201d), a khaki-coloured military UAZ car (\u201c\u0442\u0430\u0431\u043b\u0435\u0442\u043a\u0430\u201d) and a UAZ car. The men broke into the house and dispersed into different rooms. The intruders, who spoke unaccented Russian, neither identified themselves nor produced any documents. The applicants thought that they were Russian servicemen.<\/span><\/p>\n 9.\u00a0\u00a0The intruders woke up the second and third applicants, lined them up against a wall and threatened to shoot them if they moved. After that the servicemen went into the room where the first applicant and Valid Dzhabrailov were sleeping. They woke them up, forced the brothers to the floor, handcuffed them and blindfolded Valid Dzhabrailov with the hood of his sweater. Then they took Valid and Aslan Dzhabrailov\u2019s passports, beat them, dragged them outside and forced them to the ground. When the second applicant asked the intruders where they were taking her sons, the servicemen told her that they were taking them to a local department of the interior (\u201c\u0432 \u043e\u0442\u0434\u0435\u043b\u201d) for an identity check. After that they forced Valid and Aslan Dzhabrailov, who were already bleeding, into the military UAZ car and drove away to an unknown destination. While travelling in the car, the servicemen beat and kicked the brothers.<\/span><\/p>\n b. Detention of Valid and Aslan Dzhabrailov<\/span><\/p>\n 10.\u00a0\u00a0Upon arrival at the point of destination, the servicemen took Valid Dzhabrailov and the first applicant out of the car, put plastic bags over their heads and bound the bags with adhesive tape. The brothers did not know where they had been taken, but they could hear the sound of military vehicles and helicopters. The first applicant thought that they had arrived at the main base of the Russian military forces in Khankala, Chechnya.<\/span><\/p>\n 11.\u00a0\u00a0After that Valid and Aslan Dzhabrailov were forced to crawl on their hands and knees into a basement where they were thrown on to a cement floor. The brothers were cold and bleeding. Some time later the abductors came into the cell. Valid Dzhabrailov asked them why they had been abducted. In response one of the servicemen gave him several blows to the head and in the stomach with his rifle butt. Valid Dzhabrailov fell unconscious and was dragged outside. After that the brothers were separated and placed into different cells.<\/span><\/p>\n i. Detention and ill-treatment of the first applicant<\/span><\/p>\n 12.\u00a0\u00a0The first applicant was taken into a small cell in a basement, measuring approximately 2 x 3 metres. The cell had an electric light, a bunk bed and no windows. From the cell he could hear his brother Valid Dzhabrailov being interrogated and screaming as a result of being beaten.<\/span><\/p>\n 13.\u00a0\u00a0After a while two masked men in camouflage uniforms came into the applicant\u2019s cell. They asked him a number of questions, such as: whether he had ever laid any landmines and whether he had known any members of illegal armed groups in his village. They beat him with their fists, pistols and a heavy flashlight and kicked him with their heavy boots. The applicant was subjected to such interrogations and beatings several times. The men pressurised the applicant to confess to involvement in illegal armed groups. For two days of his detention in the basement the first applicant was not given any food or drink.<\/span><\/p>\n ii. Detention of Valid Dzhabrailov<\/span><\/p>\n 14.\u00a0\u00a0It appears that Valid Dzhabrailov was detained in the same building as the first applicant. Between 16 and 18 February 2003 he was subjected to interrogations and beatings.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Events of 18 February 2003<\/span><\/p>\n a. Attempt to kill the first applicant<\/span><\/p>\n 15.\u00a0\u00a0On 18 February 2003 two officers took the first applicant out of the basement, put a plastic bag over his head, bound it and his hands with adhesive tape and pushed him into a military UAZ car. In the vehicle the first applicant felt someone\u2019s heavy, cold body on the floor. He realised that this was the body of his brother, Valid Dzhabrailov.<\/span><\/p>\n 16.\u00a0\u00a0The two servicemen took the first applicant and the body of Valid Dzhabrailov to an abandoned building of a former chemical plant in the Zavodskoy district of Grozny. One of them shot the first applicant in the head; the applicant was not killed, but wounded, and he was able to pretend to be dead.<\/span><\/p>\n 17.\u00a0\u00a0The servicemen carried the first applicant and Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s body into a pit and placed them under a piece of a construction block. Then they laid explosives on the first applicant and placed Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s body on top of them. After that they lit the fuse. Having done that, they got back in the car and drove away.<\/span><\/p>\n 18.\u00a0\u00a0The first applicant managed to set himself free and extinguish the burning fuse. He threw the explosives away before they exploded. He ran out into the street and stopped the driver of a passing car who drove him home.<\/span><\/p>\n 19.\u00a0\u00a0Upon returning home the first applicant did not immediately seek medical help; that came at a later stage. The first applicant obtained the following medical statements and submitted them to the Court:<\/span><\/p>\n 1) Medical statement issued by a neuropathologist at the 3rd<\/sup> Grozny town hospital, dated 8 December 2003. The document stated that, as a result of a splinter wound to the head, Aslan Dzhabrailov was suffering from cephalgia (pain in the skull), asthenia and neurosis.<\/span><\/p>\n 2) Medical statement issued by a neuropathologist at the 3rd<\/sup> Grozny town hospital, dated 31 August 2004. The document stated that, as a result of a tangential wound to the head received in 2003, Aslan Dzhabrailov was suffering from asthenia and neurosis.<\/span><\/p>\n 3) Medical statement issued by a surgeon at the 3rd<\/sup> Grozny town hospital, dated 31 August 2004. The document stated that the applicant had undergone a medical examination of the tangential wound inflicted to his head in 2003.<\/span><\/p>\n b. Discovery of Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s body<\/span><\/p>\n 20.\u00a0\u00a0On 18 February 2003 (in the submitted documents the date was also referred to as 17 February 2003) the applicants, their relatives and neighbours went to the Zavodskoy district of Grozny. They found Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s body where it had been left by the first applicant and took it home. According to the witnesses, Ms L.M. and Ms A.M., the body showed traces of torture: it was black from the beatings; the wrists and ankles had been cut to the bone from the wearing of handcuffs and shackles; the palms and feet had been crushed and the head was hardly recognisable. They found a piece of metal wire on the neck but there was no trace of firearm wounds on the body.<\/span><\/p>\n 21.\u00a0Valid Dzhabrailov was buried soon afterwards before anyone had contacted medical institutions or law enforcement authorities. Two certificates were issued in connection with his death: the medical statement confirming Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s death, dated 17 April 2003 and Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s death certificate, stating that his death had occurred on 17\u00a0February 2003.<\/span><\/p>\n 22.\u00a0\u00a0In support of their statements, the applicants submitted: an account by Ms L.M., dated 29 September 2003; an account by Ms A.M., dated 29\u00a0September 2003; an account by the first applicant, dated 29 October 2003; an account by the second applicant, dated 29 October 2003; an account by the third applicant, undated, and the three medical certificates, one dated 8 December 2003 and two dated 31 August 2004.<\/span><\/p>\n 23.\u00a0\u00a0The Government did not challenge the facts as presented by the applicants. However, they pointed out that the investigation file contained neither a mention of the first applicant\u2019s beating in the car following the abduction nor his assertion that he had heard Valid Dzhabrailov screaming from being beaten while in detention.<\/span><\/p>\n B.\u00a0The investigation into the abduction and the killing<\/span><\/p>\n 24.\u00a0\u00a0Since 16\u00a0February 2003 the applicants have repeatedly applied in person and in writing to various public bodies, including the district department of the Ministry of the Interior (the ROVD) and prosecutors at various levels. They have been supported in their efforts by the NGO, SRJI. In their letters to the authorities the applicants referred to the events of 16-18 February 2003 and asked for assistance and details of the investigation. Mostly, these enquiries have remained unanswered, or purely formal replies have been given in which the applicants\u2019 requests have been forwarded to various prosecutors\u2019 offices. The applicants submitted to the Court some of the letters sent to the authorities and their replies. These documents, as well as the documents submitted by the Government, are summarised below.<\/span><\/p>\n 25.\u00a0\u00a0On 16 February 2003 the Grozny district prosecutor\u2019s office inspected the crime scene at the applicants\u2019 house. Nothing was collected from the scene.<\/span><\/p>\n 26.\u00a0\u00a0On 17 February 2003 an officer of the Zavodskoy ROVD informed his superiors that at about 6 p.m. on that date the ROVD had received information about the discovery of Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019 body in an abandoned building on the premises of a chemical plant and of the first applicant with a gunshot wound in his head. The latter stated that he and his brother, Valid, had been abducted from their house at about 6 a.m. on 15\u00a0February 2003 by unidentified armed men in camouflage uniforms; that they had been detained in an unidentified place and then taken by the abductors to the chemical factory in a UAZ vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n 27.\u00a0\u00a0On 18 February 2003, under Article 126\u00a0\u00a7\u00a02 of the Criminal Code (aggravated kidnapping), the Grozny district prosecutor\u2019s office instituted an investigation into the abduction of Valid and Aslan Dzhabrailov. The case file was given the number 42024 (in the submitted documents the number was also referred to as 42042 and 41026).<\/span><\/p>\n 28.\u00a0\u00a0On 18 February 2003 the investigators examined the crime scene at the place where Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s body had been discovered. The investigators inspected the body on the spot and drafted a report to this effect. As a result, it was established that Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s skull, face, ribs and upper and lower limbs seemed intact; no metal wire was found on his neck. Nothing was collected from the scene.<\/span><\/p>\n 29.\u00a0On 18 February 2003 the Grozny town prosecutor\u2019s office instituted an investigation into the murder of Valid Dzhabrailov and the case file was given the number 30034.<\/span><\/p>\n 30.\u00a0\u00a0On 19 February 2003 the first and third applicants were granted victim status in the criminal case concerning the abduction and were questioned.<\/span><\/p>\n 31.\u00a0\u00a0During questioning on 19 February 2003 the third applicant stated that at about 7 a.m. on 16 February 2003 a group of military servicemen had arrived at their house in several vehicles and had broken in. They had been armed with automatic guns; their faces had been covered with masks. The intruders had woken up the first applicant and Valid Dzhabrailov, taken their passports and told the third applicant in Russian that they would check her brothers\u2019 identities and release them. After that the servicemen had pushed the brothers into a grey UAZ car and taken them away. On 18\u00a0February 2003 a woman had arrived at the applicants\u2019 house and told them that the first applicant and Valid Dzhabrailov had been in the Zavodskoy ROVD. The applicants had immediately informed the district police officer about it who had gone to Grozny and returned with the body of Valid Dzhabrailov and the first applicant. The body had had numerous injuries and the first applicant had received a gunshot wound to the head. The witness further stated that she had learnt from the first applicant that the brothers had been handcuffed and taken to a basement made of concrete box units. At some point later they had been separated and the first applicant had not seen Valid Dzhabrailov for about twenty-four hours. In the morning of 18 February 2003 a Russian-speaking man in a camouflage uniform had removed the handcuffs from the first applicant, bound his hands, put a sack over his head and bound it with adhesive tape. He had pushed the applicant into a UAZ vehicle beside a cold corpse; the first applicant had thought that it must have been the body of his brother, Valid. The car had been driven for about fifty minutes; then it had stopped and the first applicant had been taken out. He had been dragged about 10-15 metres away from the road; then he had been forced to the ground and shot in the head; he had pretended to be dead. After that they had put Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s body on top of the applicant; then they had placed three pieces of trotyl between the brothers\u2019 bodies and lit them. One of the abductors had suggested to the other in Russian: \u201cLets wait until it explodes\u201d but the other one had said that they\u2019d better leave quickly. After that they had got back into the car and driven away. The first applicant had managed to extinguish the explosive device and made it to the road, where he had stopped a car which had taken him to the Zavodskoy ROVD. On 20 February 2004 the investigators again questioned the third applicant who provided a statement similar to the one given on 19\u00a0February 2003. She added that the abductors had told her that they had been taking Aslan and Valid Dzhabrailov to the Staropromyslovskiy ROVD for an identity check; that the abductors had been a group of about thirty men, five of whom had broken into their house.<\/span><\/p>\n 32.\u00a0 During questioning on 19 February 2003 the first applicant stated that at about 7 a.m. on 16 February 2003 he and his brother, Valid, had been abducted from their home by a group of five armed military servicemen who had arrived in three grey UAZ vehicles, a white four-door \u201cNiva\u201d car and a white \u201cGazel\u201d minivan. The abductors had blindfolded the brothers and pushed them into a UAZ vehicle. After that the abductors had driven for about fifty minutes and taken the brothers to a windowless basement, which measured approximately 5 x 7 metres and was divided into smaller cells. The first applicant had been taken to a cell with a wooden door where he had been kept for about thirty-six hours. In the evening of 17\u00a0February 2003 he had been taken outside by two armed servicemen in uniform, who had put a sack over his head and bound it with adhesive tape. Then they had pushed the applicant into a UAZ car, inside which was a cold corpse. The abductors had driven for about forty to fifty minutes. Then they had stopped, dragged the applicant out of the car and forced him to his knees against a wall. The corpse had been placed next to the applicant. After that the abductors had shot the applicant in the head; he had felt the pain but managed to pretend to be dead. Then the servicemen had placed an object between the applicant and the corpse and set it on fire, discussing whether it would be better to wait for the explosion or not. Next, the abductors had got back into the car and driven away. The applicant had pulled the sack off his head and seen that a pack of trotyl had been placed between him and the corpse of his brother, Valid. He had managed to extinguish the explosive device and throw it away. He had looked around and noticed that he had been taken to an abandoned building on the premises of a former chemical plant in Grozny. He had walked to the road, stopped a car and been driven to the Zavodskoy ROVD where he had informed the authorities about the events.<\/span><\/p>\n 33.\u00a0 At a later date,\u00a0on 3 March 2004 the investigators again questioned the first applicant whose second statement about the events of 16-18\u00a0February 2003 was similar to the one given on 19 February 2003. In addition, he provided a more detailed description of the place of his detention and stated that the abductors had interrogated him and demanded that he confess to laying landmines; that they had beaten him with flashlights and rifle butts; that they had all been wearing uniforms and masks and had been armed with firearms and that one of them had been armed with a military \u201cMakarov\u201d pistol; that one of the abductors had addressed one of the men present during the interrogations in the basement as \u201cColonel\u201d and that the latter had been wearing a specific reddish camouflage uniform with a peculiar blotted pattern and had been armed with a special sub-machine gun with a silencer; that the two men who had conducted the last interrogation of the applicant had not been wearing masks; that one of them was a large-built, fair-haired man with glasses, of about forty to forty-five years of age, whereas the other one had an Asian appearance, was about the same age and had a similar build to the first one; that these two men had taken the applicant to the premises of the former chemical plant where they had shot him in the head with a sub-machine gun, but the bullet had just grazed his head and he had managed to pretend to be dead; that the men had tried to blow up him and his brother\u2019s body; that after the abductors had left he had managed to stop an MAZ vehicle in which there had been two men who had driven him to a security lodge located in a yard with many garages; that three armed men in camouflage uniforms who had been present there had called the Zavodskoy ROVD via a portable radio and that about half an hour later a UAZ car had arrived and taken the applicant to the Zavodskoy ROVD.<\/span><\/p>\n 34.\u00a0\u00a0On 19 February 2003 the investigators questioned the applicants\u2019 relative, Mr N.R., whose statement concerning the events of 16-18 February 2003 was similar to the ones given by the first and third applicants.<\/span><\/p>\n 35.\u00a0\u00a0On 14 March 2003 the Grozny district prosecutor\u2019s office wrote to the Grozny district department of the Federal Security Service (the FSB) requesting information about the involvement of the first applicant in illegal armed groups. On 15 March 2003 the FSB replied that they had no such information.<\/span><\/p>\n 36.\u00a0\u00a0On 14 March 2003 the Grozny town prosecutor\u2019s office joined the investigation in the criminal cases concerning the abduction and the killing. The joint criminal case was given the number 30034.<\/span><\/p>\n 37.\u00a0\u00a0On 18 April 2003 the investigators informed the applicants that the investigation in the criminal case had been suspended for failure to identify the perpetrators.<\/span><\/p>\n 38.\u00a0\u00a0On 3 February 2004 the Chechnya prosecutor\u2019s office informed the second applicant that her complaint about the killing of Valid Dzhabrailov had been examined and that on 3 February 2004 the investigation had been resumed.<\/span><\/p>\n 39.\u00a0\u00a0On 2-3 March 2004 the Chechnya Bureau of Forensic Expert Evaluations conducted an expert evaluation of Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s body based on the crime scene examination report of 17 February 2003. According to the expert\u2019s conclusions:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c…Based on the crime scene examination report and the circumstances of the case I conclude the following:<\/span><\/p>\n The following injuries were found on Valid Dzhabrailov\u2019s body:<\/span><\/p>\n – numerous extensive bruises of the body and the extremities;<\/span><\/p>\n
\nNina Vaji\u0107 (Croatia),
\nAnatoly Kovler (Russia),
\nElisabeth Steiner (Austria),
\nKhanlar Hajiyev (Azerbaijan),
\nDean Spielmann (Luxembourg),
\nSverre Erik Jebens (Norway), judges,<\/span><\/p>\n
\nand S\u00f8ren Nielsen, Section Registrar.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nNina Vaji\u0107,
\nAnatoly Kovler,
\nElisabeth Steiner,
\nKhanlar Hajiyev,
\nDean Spielmann,
\nSverre Erik Jebens, judges,
\nand S\u00f8ren Nielsen, Section Registrar,<\/span><\/p>\n