5.  The applicants were born in 1966 and 1939 respectively and live in the village of Chechen-Aul of the Grozny district, the Chechen Republic.  They are the brother and the mother of Ramzan Said-Khasanovich Rasayev, born in 1963, who was apprehended on 25 December 2001 by armed men and has been missing since. The applicants live in Chechen-Aul at 21 Kalinina Street, and Ramzan Rasayev lived there as well before his apprehension. 6.  According to the applicants’, on 25 December 2001 the armed forces of the Russian Federation arrived in Chechen-Aul to conduct a security raid. The operation was conducted by special reconnaissance unit no. 352 of the interior troops (352й отдельный разведывательный батальон внутренних войск) under the command of Major General B. 7.  At about noon Ramzan Rasayev was walking down the street returning home from a neighbour’s house. Apparently some servicemen who were about 150 metres away called to him, but he did not hear them because of his impaired hearing and continued walking towards his home. Four servicemen followed him with a police dog and broke into his house straight after he had gone in. 8.  According to the applicants and other witnesses, whose testimonies they submitted to the Court, the servicemen were wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying military weapons, but no masks, and were armed with machineguns. They spoke Russian without an accent. The servicemen did not present any documents and did not introduce themselves. They demanded that all the men of the household come out to the courtyard and say which one of them had just been in the street. Ramzan Rasayev responded and was accused of not stopping following the order. The first applicant and Ramzan Rasayev were told to lean against the wall and were searched; then their documents were checked. 9.  The servicemen left, taking Ramzan Rasayev with them and saying that he would be back shortly after an additional document check. Apparently they were taking him to the “filtration point” on the outskirts of Chechen-Aul. The second applicant and Khava Rasayeva, Ramzan Rasayev’s wife, were crying and asking the servicemen not to arrest him, but the soldiers pushed them and other family members back into the house, ordered them to stay indoors and left. 10.  The first applicant and Khava Rasayeva followed them at some distance and saw them heading to the military vehicles parked in Karl Marx Street (one armoured personnel carrier (APC), one Ural truck and one UAZ all-terrain military vehicle, all without visible identification plates). After that they saw Ramzan Rasayev, who was ordered to lean against a fence with his hands up. At that point the servicemen noticed that the applicants had followed them and chased them back into the house. Other witnesses saw that the servicemen then started hitting and kicking Ramzan Rasayev. About ten minutes later all of the servicemen left on the above-mentioned vehicles, taking Ramzan Rasayev with them. 11.  The applicants submitted a handwritten plan of the neighbourhood indicating their house and the location of the military vehicles. They also submitted statements by Khava Rasayeva and their neighbours, I. B., M. M. and P. G., who confirmed their account of Ramzan Rasayev’s apprehension. 12.  Later on the same day a number of detainees at the “filtration point” saw Ramzan Rasayev. The applicants submitted written testimonies by A. Ya., Kh. B. and M. B., fellow villagers who had been detained at the filtration point and then released. Their description of the camp and the account of the circumstances of Ramzan Rasayev’s detention may be summarised as follows. The camp was set up by the military forces on the outskirts of the village, behind a cordon. In the middle of the camp there was an open-air waiting area where the detainees remained before being called out for individual “filtration” interviews. There had been ten to twenty detainees at the filtration point on that day. Ramzan Rasayev was brought there at about 1.30 p.m. in a military truck and was first placed in the common waiting area but was shortly taken away, apparently for an interview, until about 5 p.m. When he was brought back he was taken to a separate tent, about 10 metres away from the common area. After that the others lost sight of him, and nobody saw him again. 13.  According to the Government, between 24 and 26 December 2001 a special operation was conducted in the village of Chechen-Aul to check identity papers and locate members of illegal armed groups. Troops from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Security Service (FSB) took part in the operation. During that period unidentified persons in camouflage uniform apprehended Ramzan Rasayev, who lived in Chechen-Aul, and took him to an unknown destination. He was not delivered to the filtration point and was not in the list of persons detained. His whereabouts have not been established to date. 14.  From that day the applicants have been searching for Ramzan Rasayev. Both in person and in writing they have applied to various official bodies, trying to find out his whereabouts and fate. The applicants have retained copies of some of their letters to the authorities and the answers, which they have submitted to the Court. Their attempts to discover the whereabouts of Ramzan Rasayev, and the criminal proceedings, can be summarised as follows. 15.  On 28 December 2001 the first applicant filed a written request with the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 asking for an explanation of the grounds on which Ramzan Rasayev was being kept in detention and enquiring about the place of his detention. 16.  On 2 January 2002 the first applicant repeated his request, this time indicating the witnesses of his brother’s apprehension. 17.  On an unspecified date the fist applicant filed a written complaint with the Grozny District Prosecutor. On 5 January 2002 this complaint was forwarded to the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 “to be joined to the criminal case file”. 18.  On 17 January 2002 the second applicant wrote to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechen Republic asking for the whereabouts of her son to be established and to be informed accordingly. 19.  On an unspecified date the applicants filed a written complaint with the Chechnya Department of the FSB. On 22 January 2002 that complaint was forwarded to the military prosecutor’s office because the agency “had no information on its officers’ involvement in Ramzan Rasayev’s arrest”. 20.  On an unspecified date the second applicant filed a written complaint with the Special Envoy of the Russian President for rights and freedoms in Chechnya. On 30 January 2002 that letter was forwarded to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechen Republic “for appropriate measures to be taken”. 21.  On 26 January 2002 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal investigation into the abduction of Ramzan Rasayev (criminal case file no. 56014). The decision to open the investigation read:
“From 24 to 26 December 2001 divisions of the federal troops of the RF, the Ministry of the Interior and the FSB carried out a special operation in Chechen-Aul of the Grozny District, the Chechen Republic, to locate members of illegal armed groups and check passports. During the operation the servicemen detained Mr Ramzan Rasayev, a resident of Chechen-Aul, and took him to an unknown destination. His whereabouts are still unknown. ...” 22.  On 28 January 2002 the first applicant was questioned as a witness. He gave his account of the events as described in paragraphs 6-10 above. 23.  On 26 March 2002 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office suspended the criminal proceedings in case no. 56014. The decision to suspend the investigation read:
“From 24 to 26 December 2001 divisions of the federal troops of the RF, the Ministry of the Interior and the FSB carried out a special operation in Chechen-Aul of the Grozny District, the Chechen Republic, to locate members of illegal armed groups and check passports. During the operation the servicemen detained Mr Ramzan Rasayev, a resident of Chechen-Aul, and took him to an unknown destination. His whereabouts are still unknown.
Having regard to the foregoing and taking into account that in the course of the preliminary investigation [it did not appear possible to identify] the persons to be charged with the offence and that the time-limits for the preliminary investigation are expiring, [the preliminary investigation] should be suspended . ...” 24.  On 3 December 2002 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office resumed the criminal proceedings in case no. 56014. The decision stated that on 27 March 2002 the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechen Republic had instructed the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office to take certain investigative measures in the case. However, the instructions had not been complied with. 25.  On 20 December 2002 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office issued a certificate in the first applicant’s name confirming that criminal proceedings concerning the abduction of his brother were under way. 26.  On 21 December 2002 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office issued another certificate of similar content, but also indicating that Ramzan Rasayev had been arrested by military servicemen and taken to an unknown destination. 27.  On 25 December 2002 the first applicant was granted victim status in the criminal proceedings concerning the abduction of his brother. The decision of the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office contained the following statement:
“From 24 to 26 December 2001 the military units of the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior and the FSB carried out a special operation in Chechen-Aul of the Grozny District, Chechnya, to locate members of illegal armed groups and check passports. During the operation the servicemen detained Mr Ramzan Rasayev, born in 1963, a resident of Chechen-Aul, and took him to an unknown destination. His whereabouts are still unknown. ...” 28.  On 4 January 2003 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office suspended the criminal proceedings in case no. 56014, as “no persons to be charged with the crime could be identified”. The first applicant was informed of the decision. 29.  According to the Government, on 30 March 2003 the Military Prosecutor’s Office of the United Group Alignment received a letter from the Special Envoy of the Russian President for rights and freedoms in Chechnya with a request to assist in the search for Ramzan Rasayev. The prosecutor’s office of military unit no. 20102 conducted an inquiry in the course of which no information about the involvement of servicemen in the abduction of Ramzan Rasayev was received. The military prosecuting authorities did not take any procedural decisions in this regard. 30.  On 28 April 2003 the second applicant wrote to the Secretary of the Security Council of Chechnya requesting assistance in finding her son. 31.  On an unspecified date the first applicant filed a complaint with the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office. On 19 May 2003 this complaint was forwarded to the office of the Prosecutor General in the Southern Federal Circuit. 32.  On 30 May 2003 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office provided the first applicant with an official statement indicating the dates of the suspension and the resumption of criminal case no. 56014. The last event in the procedural history was the decision to suspend of 4 January 2003. 33.  On 2 June 2003 the SRJI wrote on the applicants’ behalf to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechen Republic asking for an update on the investigation of case no. 56014. 34.  On 9 July 2003 the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechen Republic informed the first applicant that the criminal proceedings in case no. 56014 had been suspended as of 25 January 2003 (as opposed to 4 January 2003 as previously indicated). 35.  On 7 January 2006 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office resumed the investigation. The first applicant was informed of the decision. 36.  On 8 January 2006 the first applicant was questioned as a witness. He confirmed his statements made on 28 January 2002. 37.  On the same date B. I., the applicants’ neighbour, was questioned. She stated that in December 2001 she had seen servicemen putting Ramzan Rasayev into a Ural vehicle without identification plates and taking him to an unknown destination. 38.  On 7 February 2006 the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office suspended the investigation on the ground that the persons to be charged with the offence had not been identified. The first applicant was informed of the decision. 39.  On 28 July 2006 the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechen Republic quashed the decision to suspend the investigation and referred the case for further investigation to the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office. The resumed investigation was supervised by the Office of the Prosecutor General. The first applicant was informed of the decision. 40.  According to the Government, in the course of the investigation requests were sent to various State agencies and remand prisons of Chernokozovo and Stavropol with a view to establishing the whereabouts of Ramzan Rasayev. However, they were of no avail. 41.  According to the applicants, throughout the criminal investigation they were not involved in the proceedings and received almost no information about their progress. According to the Government, they were informed of all the decisions to suspend and resume the investigation. 42.  On 1 December 2003 the SRJI lodged, on the first applicant’s behalf, a complaint with the Grozny District Court challenging the inaction of the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office. They asked the court to order the prosecuting authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, to question fifteen witnesses named in the complaint, including other residents of Chechen-Aul who had been held at the same filtration point with Ramzan Rasayev and to allow the first applicant to make copies of documents contained in the case file. 43.  On 21 December 2005 the Grozny District Court ordered the Grozny District Prosecutor’s Office to resume the investigation, to question the witnesses named by the first applicant and to allow him to make copies of documents contained in the case file. The prosecutor’s office appealed. 44.  On 5 February 2006 the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic amended the decision of the Grozny District Court thereby removing the order to allow the first applicant to make copies of documents contained in the case file. It upheld the decision in the remaining part. 45.  Despite a specific request by the Court, the Government did not submit a copy of the investigation file into the abduction of Ramzan Rasayev. They submitted fifteen pages of case-file materials containing decisions instituting, suspending and resuming the investigation and a decision granting the first applicant victim status. Relying on the information obtained from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the file contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in criminal proceedings.