5.  The applicant was born in 1949 and lives in Mayrtup in Shali district, Chechnya. She is the mother of Mr Vakhit (also spelt as Vakhid) Gambulatov, who was born in 1976. 6.  On 28 June 2001 (in the documents submitted the date also referred to as 29 June 2001) Mr Vakhit Gambulatov left home and did not return. The next day the applicant and her relatives learned that on 28 June 2001 Mr Vakhit Gambulatov and his fellow villager Mr Ramzan S. had been arrested at the checkpoint located between the villages of Tsentoroy and Bachi-Yurt and taken in an APC to the Kurchaloy district military commander’s office (“the military commander’s office”) and from there to the Kurchaloy temporary district department of the interior (“the Kurchaloy VOVD”) situated in the same courtyard. 7.  On 29 June 2001 duty officers at the military commander’s office confirmed that Mr Vakhit Gambulatov had been detained on their premises. For the next couple of weeks the applicant spent every day next to the military commander’s office waiting for her son’s release. On the 15th or 16th day of his detention Mr Vakhit Gambulatov passed a note to the applicant stating that he was not aware of the reasons for his arrest, but that he would be released soon. Every day the applicant brought food for Mr Vakhit Gambulatov, and twice a week she collected his laundry from the guards. 8.  At some point in late July 2001 the applicant and her daughter were told by an officer at the military commander’s office that Mr Vakhit Gambulatov would be released on 29 July 2001. However, the applicant’s son was not released and at the beginning of August 2001 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as the beginning of July 2001) a duty officer told the applicant that her son had been transferred elsewhere. 9.  The applicant has had no news of her son since. 10.  The Government did not dispute the applicant’s statement concerning the factual circumstances of her son’s detention. In their submission concerning the admissibility and merits of the application they stated, amongst other things, the following:
“... On 29 June 2001 the applicant’s son Mr Vakhit Gambulatov was taken for identification to the temporary detention centre of the Kurchaloy VOVD. On 26 July 2001 he was released from detention and disappeared. His whereabouts have not been established since ...” 11.  The Government submitted copies of documents from the criminal case file no. 39099 opened in connection with the disappearance of Mr Vakhit Gambulatov. The relevant information may be summarised as follows. 12.  On 2 August 2001 the applicant complained about her son’s detention to the Argun prosecutor’s office and to the Kurchaloy district military commander’s office. She stated that her son Vakhit had been detained in the Kurchaloy VOVD (the police station) between 28 June and 31 July 2001. 13.  On 6 December 2001 the investigators asked the Kurchaloy VOVD for information about Mr Vakhit Gambulatov’s arrest. On the same date the VOVD replied that on 29 June 2001 Mr Vakhit Gambulatov and Mr Ramzan S. had been brought to their premises for a passport check and released on 29 July 2001. 14.  On 8 December 2001 the Argun district prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal investigation into the events under Article 126 of the Criminal Code (abduction). The case file was given the number 39099. 15.  The investigator sent requests to various temporary detention centres for information about Mr Vakhit Gambulatov’s detention. These requests did not yield any information. 16.  On 7 February 2002 the applicant was granted victim status and questioned about the events. She gave a statement concerning her son’s detention at the police station similar to the one submitted before the Court. 17.  On 8 February 2002 the investigation was suspended. The applicant was not informed of this. From the contents of the case file it appears that the investigation was suspended between February 2002 and May 2008 and that meanwhile the applicant and her relatives contacted various authorities with requests for assistance in their search for Mr Vakhit Gambulatov and for information on the progress of the investigation into his disappearance. 18.  On 15 May 2008 the applicant asked for access to the investigation file and on 16 May 2008 her request was granted. 19.  On 29 May 2008 the applicant found a pro bono lawyer who agreed to represent her in the criminal case concerning her son’s disappearance. 20.  On 7 July 2008 the applicant’s lawyer asked the investigators to take steps to establish whether Mr Vakhit Gambulatov was detained at the police station on or after 28 June 2001. 21.  On 8 July 2008 the investigation was resumed. The applicant was informed. 22.  In July 2008 the investigator sent requests for information to various law-enforcement bodies in Chechnya; none of the requests yielded any information. 23.  On 11 July 2008 the investigators again questioned the applicant, this time with an interpreter, because of the applicant’s limited knowledge of Russian. The applicant reiterated her previous statement concerning her son’s detention on the premises of the Kurchaloy VOVD and her visits there with her sister Ms D.U. and fellow villagers. She reiterated that she had passed on food and clean clothes to her son while he was detained in the VOVD, and that on 26 July 2001 one of the servicemen at the police station had told her that Mr Vakhit Gambulatov would be released soon; on 31 July 2001 she had arrived at the VOVD, the servicemen had given back the clean clothes she had brought for her son and told her that he had been released on 29 July 2001. The applicant further stated that for several years after her son’s abduction she had complained about his disappearance to a number of law-enforcement bodies, including the Chechnya prosecutor’s office, and to various public organisations which requested information on Mr Vakhit Gambulatov’s whereabouts on her behalf. 24.  On 12 July 2008 the investigators questioned the applicant’s son Mr As.G., whose statement was similar to the applicant’s account submitted to the Court. 25.  On 13 July 2008 the investigators questioned the applicant’s relative Ms Zh.U., whose statement obtained with interpretation was similar to that of the applicant. In addition, the witness stated that for a number of years the search for Mr Vakhit Gambulatov and the communication with the authorities regarding the matter had been handled by her and the applicant. 26.  On 14 July 2008 the investigators questioned the applicant’s daughter Ms S.G., whose statement was similar to the applicant’s account submitted to the Court. 27.  On 8 August 2008 the investigation was suspended. The applicant was informed. 28.  On 11 September 2008 the applicant asked for an update on the progress of the investigation, and on 12 September 2008 she was provided with an update. 29.  On 10 November 2008 the applicant requested that the investigators take steps to examine the grounds for her son’s detention in the VOVD after the arrest. 30.  On 10 November 2008 the investigation was resumed and then suspended the following day, 11 November 2008. The applicant was informed. 31.  On 13 November 2008 the applicant’s lawyer requested that the investigators take procedural steps to join the investigations of the disappearance of her son Vakhit Gambulatov and that of Mr Ramzan S., as both men had been taken away simultaneously and by the same persons. On 15 November 2008 her request was granted in part. 32.  On 19 November 2008 the investigation was resumed. 33.  On 19 November 2008 the investigators questioned officers V.D. and A.Ch., who had worked in the Kurchaloy VOVD in 2001. Both officers denied having any information pertaining to the disappearance of the applicant’s son. 34.  On 22 November 2008 the investigation was again suspended. The applicant was informed. 35.  On 16 August 2009 the applicant’s lawyer requested access to the investigation file, and on 24 August 2009 the investigators granted the request. 36.  From the documents submitted it appears that the investigation into the whereabouts of the applicant’s son is still pending.