5.  The applicant was born in 1983 and lives in Ordzhenikidzevskaya, Ingushetia. He is the brother of Mr Abubakar (also spelt as Abu-Bakar) Tsechoyev, who was born in 1978.
6.  At the material time the applicant’s brother Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev worked at the water-pumping station in Ordzhenikidzevskaya, Ingushetia.
7.  In the evening of 22 March 2012 Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev was at work at the pumping station with his colleagues Mr A.A., Mr K.Kh and Mr I.G. At about 10 p.m. a group of about ten men in camouflage uniforms and balaclavas armed with automatic weapons broke into the pumping station, quickly and noiselessly tied up the employees, blindfolded them and dragged them into separate rooms where they were subjected to beatings. Approximately forty minutes later they took Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev, who was unconscious, outside, placed him in one of their UAZ‑brand vehicles and drove away in the direction of Chechnya. They had been due to pass through a checkpoint located on the border between Ingushetia and Chechnya, on the Ordzhenikidzevskaya to Sernovodsk motorway. Later that night, at about 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., one of the colleagues of the abducted man, Mr I.G., managed to free himself; he untied the two others, went to the applicant’s house and informed him of his brother’s abduction.
8.  According to the applicant, as soon as he learnt of the abduction, he went to the Sunzhenskiy district police station and informed the duty officer of the abduction of his brother from the water-pumping station. The officer didn’t believe him. The applicant, therefore, left and returned with Mr I.G. who bore the marks of the beatings and whose clothing was torn. Then an investigator questioned Mr I.G. and at about 6 a.m. on 23 March 2012 a group of police officers went to the crime scene to inspect it.
9.  The applicant arrived at the pumping station with the police and walked around the grounds. He examined the ground, which was wet, as it had rained at night. A couple of hundred metres from the pumping station, the applicant found the tyre marks of a Lada Niva car. The only road leading to the pumping station passed by the building of school no. 6 in Ordzhenikidzevskaya, which was equipped with CCTV cameras.
10.  The Government did not dispute the circumstances of the abduction as presented by the applicant. At the same time, they pointed out the following: the applicant had not witnessed the incident and had learnt of its circumstances from third persons; the eyewitnesses’ statements were incomplete and imprecise, as the perpetrators had blindfolded them. The Government further submitted that the events had taken place in 2012, in Ingushetia, and not in the Chechen Republic, and that there had been no counterterrorist operations going on and no limitations on free movement of vehicles in the area. In addition, the domestic authorities had found “not far from the water-pumping station [the crime scene] traces of the whereabouts of illegal armed groups.” In sum, the Government submitted that was no evidence of State agents’ involvement in the abduction of the applicant’s brother.
11.  In reply to the Court’s requests for a copy of the contents of the investigation file, the Government submitted partial copies of its contents, some 639 pages in total, which showed the steps taken by the investigators from March 2012 to October 2015. From the documents submitted, the investigation can be summarised as follows.
12.  Early in the morning of 23 March 2012 the applicant lodged an abduction complaint with the Sunzhenskiy district department of the interior (Сунженский районный отдел внутренних дел (РОВД)) (hereinafter “the Sunzhenskiy ROVD”) and the Sunzhenskiy district prosecutor. In his complaint the applicant stated the following:
“... Yesterday, on 22 March 2012, at about 9 p.m. my brother Abubakar Tsechoyev, who was born in 1978, was abducted from his place of work (he worked as the operator of the Vodokanal water-pumping station). The abductors were a group of ten persons, all armed with automatic weapons, dressed in camouflage uniforms and with balaclavas covering their faces. Three more men who were at work at the pumping station with my brother (an electrician, a machinist and a guard), were tied up and prohibited from moving under threat of being shot. One of them was beaten using the butt of a sub-machine gun. At least three persons attacked Abubakar; they beat him with their guns, hands and kicked him; they handcuffed him and dragged him from the pumping station. Then they drove away in a vehicle, presumably, a UAZ. Overall, the abductors spent about an hour at the pumping station. According to our information, the abductors drove through a checkpoint situated on the road between Ordzhenikidzevskaya and Sernovodsk.
My brother is not a criminal, he has not been charged with any administrative or criminal offences, he had never had any problems with the law ... on the date of his abduction he was at work.
On the basis of the above I ask for your assistance in the search for my brother Abubakar Tsechoyev and the persons who abducted him ...”
13.  On 23 March 2012 investigators examined the crime scene. Several pieces of evidence, including adhesive tape, pieces of fabric used by the abductors to tie-up the employees and a cut-off piece of the barbed wire from the pumping station’s fence were collected from the scene.
14.  On 23 March 2012 the applicant requested that the investigators obtain the CCTV footage from the building of school no. 6 in Ordzhenikidzevskaya which was located in the vicinity of the water‑pumping station. He informed the investigators that the footage would be available for seven days as after that subsequent recording would automatically overwrite it. On 30 March 2012 the investigators collected the CCTV footage. However, the video recorded between 20 and 23 March 2012 had already been overwritten by the footage of subsequent dates.
15.  On 24 March 2012 the Investigative Department in Sunzhenskiy district (Следственный отдел по Сунженскому району) (hereinafter “the investigations department”) initiated a criminal investigation into the abduction under Articles 126 § 2 of the Criminal Code (aggravated abduction) and the case file was given the number 12600026.
16.  On the same date, 24 March 2012, the applicant was granted victim status in the criminal proceedings and questioned (see paragraph 36 below).
17.  On 24 March 2012 the investigators took the applicant’s fingerprints to exclude them from the future expert examination of the adhesive tape collected at the crime scene.
18.  On 26 March 2012 the investigators granted Mr I.G. victim status in the criminal case (see paragraph 
37 below) and ordered a forensic medical examination of the bruises received during the abduction. On 4 April 2012 the expert concluded that Mr I.G. could have obtained the injuries under the circumstances described in his statements to the investigation.
19.  On various dates in March and April 2012 the investigators forwarded information requests to a number of State agencies, hospitals, morgues and detention centres in the North Caucasus and the neighbouring regions asking whether they had any information on Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev. The replies received were in the negative.
20.  On 6 April 2012 the Sunzhenskiy District Court granted the investigators permission to obtain the phone records for the period between 1st and 30 March 2012 of the mobile telephones of the four employees of the water-pumping station, Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev, Mr A.A., Mr K.Kh and Mr I.G.
21.  On 10 April 2012 the investigators informed their supervisor that on that date they had wanted to “inspect” the applicant’s house but the applicant had refused to let them in. From the document submitted it is unclear whether the judicial authorisation for it had been obtained.
22.  On 19 April 2012 the applicant refused, for unspecified reasons, to familiarise himself with the decisions to order an expert examination of the evidence and the examination’s conclusions in the criminal case opened in connection with his brother’s abduction.
23.  On 27 April 2012 the investigators ordered a forensic expert examination of the piece of fabric which had been used to tie-up Mr K.Kh. during the abduction to establish whether any DNA or smells could be derived from the evidence (see paragraph 13 above).
24.  On 3 May 2012 the investigators examined the phone records and the calls made on and around the time of the abduction.
25.  On 10 or 11 May 2012 the investigators granted Ms R.Ts., the mother of Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev, victim status in the criminal case and questioned her (see paragraph 41 below).
26.  On 20 May 2012 the investigators obtained blood samples from Ms R.Ts. and on 21 May 2012 ordered that they be forensically examined to determine her blood type and to add them to the DNA database.
27.  On 21 May 2012 the investigators obtained permission from Ms R.Ts. to search her house; this was carried out on the same date. As a result, Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev’s passport and a black sweatshirt were collected as evidence and a forensic examination of these items was ordered.
28.  On an unspecified date between 24 March and 19 May 2012 the Sunzhenskiy ROVD informed the investigators that not far from the pumping station they had found a concealed bunker belonging to members of illegal armed groups.
29.  On 24 August 2012 the investigation was suspended for failure to identify the perpetrators. The decision stated that the investigation had four theories concerning the reasons for the abduction: the abduction had been perpetrated due to the hostile relationship between the perpetrators and Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev; he had been arrested by State agents; he had become a member of an illegal armed group; his alleged abduction had been staged by his accomplices in that illegal armed group.
30.  On 25 September 2012 the investigators’ supervisor overruled the decision to suspend the investigation as premature and unlawful and ordered that the proceedings be resumed. The applicant was informed thereof.
31.  On 25 December 2012 the investigation was suspended for failure to identify the perpetrators. The applicant was informed thereof.
32.  On 13 October 2015 the investigation was resumed in order to take a number of steps, such as questioning several police officers who had manned checkpoints Angara-120 and Kavkaz-1 in the vicinity of Ordzhenikidzevskaya on the night of the abduction, and further questioning Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev’s relatives.
33.  From the documents submitted it appears that the investigation is still pending.
34.  On 23 March 2012 the investigators questioned the applicant and two employees of the water-pumping station, Mr I.G. and Mr K.Kh., whose scrappy statements were furnished to the Court. From the copies submitted, the contents of the documents were unclear.
35.  On the same date, 23 March, and then on 24 March 2012 the investigators questioned another employee of the pumping station, Mr A.A., who stated that in the evening of 22 of March 2012 he had been on-duty at work with three other colleagues, including Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev. At about 9.40 p.m. the lights in the pumping station had gone out. The witness had gone to see what had happened to the electric wires when he had heard Mr Tsechoyev screaming while being beaten by three men in camouflage uniforms, black balaclavas and armed with sub-machine guns; two more men in similar uniforms and balaclavas had been guarding the window and the door. Then the man at the door had grabbed the witness and pointed his gun at his chest and ordered him in Russian not to move. The witness had understood that as a result of the beating Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev had passed out. Then the men had bound the witness’ hands, blindfolded him with a piece of a blanket and adhesive tape and dragged him over to the control room, and then to the prayer room where the intruders had wrapped him in a rug and thrown him to the floor. The witness had remained in the room until about 2 a.m. when his colleagues Mr I.G. and Mr K.Kh. had untied his hands. Then the three of them had seen that the intruders had taken Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev along with their two-way radios, their mobile telephones and the battery from Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev’s VAZ‑21099 car which had been parked in the courtyard. The witness stated that he would not be able to identify the perpetrators but that he was sure that the abduction had been perpetrated by professionals who had spoken unaccented Russian and had acted quickly and had been able to incapacitate the employees within a few minutes without making any noise.
36.  On 24 March 2012 the investigators questioned the applicant who stated that at about 3 a.m. on the night between 22 and 23 March 2012 Mr I.G. had arrived at his house, informed him of the abduction of Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev by armed masked men in camouflage uniforms and described the circumstances of the incident. The applicant had immediately gone to the Sunzhenskiy ROVD but the duty officer had refused to register the complaint; the applicant had returned to the police station with Mr I.G. who had described the events and shown the bruises received as a result of the abductors’ beating. The applicant further stated that his relatives had previously been detained by the authorities – his elder brother Mr Islam Tsechoyev had been detained and tortured by State agents on the suspicion of membership of an illegal armed group and subsequently had successfully complained of those events to the European Court of Human Rights (see Khadisov and Tsechoyev v. Russia, no. 21519/02, §§ 123 and 133, 5 February 2009) – and that his cousin Mr Aslan Tsechoyev had been killed in 2011 during a special operation carried out by the authorities against members of illegal armed groups.
37.  On 24 and then on 26 March 2012 the investigators questioned an employee of the water-pumping station Mr I.G. whose statements were similar to the ones given by his colleague Mr A.A. on 23 and 24 March (see paragraph 35 above). In addition, he stated that the perpetrators had used physical force during the abduction, that they had beaten him and that they had been in camouflage uniforms, including special military boots and armed with sub-machine guns. When he had been taken to the control room, the abductors had pulled a plastic bag over his head leaving just a small opening for the air. Several minutes later he had managed to free himself and gone to the other rooms to find his colleagues. The lights had been off in the entire station. The witness had found Mr K.Kh. and unbound his hands. Then the two of them had found Mr A.A., who had been wrapped in a rug in the prayer room. Then all of them had searched for Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev but they had not been able to find him as he had been taken by the abductors along with their mobile telephones. Then the witness had gone to the applicant’s house and informed him of the incident.
38.  On unspecified dates in 2012 (the pages with the dates and the names of the persons questioned were not furnished to the Court) the investigators questioned twelve police officers who had been manning checkpoint Assa situated between the settlement of Nesterovskaya in Ingushetia and the settlement of Assinovskaya in Chechnya between 11 p.m. on 22 March and 11 p.m. on 23 March 2012. All of the officers stated that they had checked each vehicle passing through and that on the night of the abduction they had not seen any vehicles of State agencies going through and had no information pertaining to the incident.
39.  On 23 April 2012 the investigators questioned the former director of the water-pumping station Mr B.K. who stated that he had learnt of the incident from Mr I.G. and that he had quit his job after the abduction.
40.  On 1 May 2012 the investigators again questioned the applicant’s brother Mr Is.Ts. who stated that he had learnt of the abduction from Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev’s colleague Mr I.G. His statement was similar to that of the applicant (see paragraph 36 above). The witness stated that his family members had been detained and ill-treated by State agents. He referred to his brother, Mr Islam Tsechoyev, who had been detained and tortured by State agents, and that his cousin, Mr Aslan Tsechoyev, had been killed in 2011 during a special operation carried out by the authorities against members of illegal armed groups.
41.  On 11 May 2012 the investigators questioned the mother of Mr Abubakar Tsechoyev, Ms R.Ts., who stated that she had learnt of the abduction from Mr I.G. and that her relatives had been detained and ill‑treated by State agents. Similarly to her sons, the applicant and Mr Is.Ts. (see paragraphs 36 and 40 above), she referred to the detention and torture of her son Mr Islam Tsechoyev and the killing of Mr Aslan Tsechoyev as a result of a special operation against members of illegal armed groups.
42.  On 28 May 2012 the investigators questioned the former head of the security service of the water-pumping station, Mr Ya.G., who stated that he had learnt of the incident from Mr I.G. and that he had quit his job after the abduction.
43.  On 12 April 2013 the applicant complained to the Sunzhenskiy District Court (hereinafter “the District Court”) that the investigation of his brother’s abduction had been ineffective. He stated, in particular, the following:
“... on 25 December 2012 the investigation was suspended for failure to establish the perpetrators.
Abubakar did not have hostile relationships with anybody; he was not involved in a feud nor had he any debts. In 2001 our elder brother Islam Tsechoyev was abducted and taken to the military base in Khankala where he was subjected to severe beatings. In 2007 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg delivered a judgement in Islam’s favour. I do not know that the reasons were for Abubakar’s abduction but I am sure that it was perpetrated by servicemen from within the power structure [of the State].
The investigation failed to take the full range of operational investigative steps. The case file contains the witness statement of a shepherd who had seen a suspicious four-door Niva car with heavily tinted windows next to the water-pumping station. Such vehicles are usually used by special forces ...That car was seen at the pumping station on the day of the abduction and two days prior to it. The investigators also ignored the statement of the guard of the husbandry team who had seen that car at 5 p.m. on the day of the abduction ... I personally inspected the area and found the place where the car had pulled over leaving clear tyre tracks. During that inspection I was with the district police officer [Dz.] from Ordzhenikidzevskaya. I informed the investigator [G.] about my findings but the investigation took no steps to identify the vehicle. No expert examination of the tyre tracks was carried out. The investigation failed to establish which State agency possessed such vehicles and in what quantity. From the very beginning of the investigation, it had been necessary to examine vehicles from the operational search units of State agencies; this has not been done.
In addition, despite my repeated requests, the information from the CCTV cameras situated next to the school was not obtained in time ... On 23 March [2012] I requested that the footage be examined as every seven days the video recorded was automatically destroyed and, therefore, it could be lost. I asked the investigator [G.], amongst other persons, about it, but the investigation obtained the disks only on 30 March [2012], when everything had already been erased.
Based on the above ... I request that ...
-  the decision to suspend the investigation of 25 December 2012 be found unsubstantiated; ...
-  servicemen of the bodies responsible for my brother’s abduction be identified and prosecuted ...”
44.  On 22 April 2013 the District Court rejected the applicant’s complaint as unsubstantiated having found that the impugned decision had been taken lawfully and on sufficient grounds. The court did not examine the applicant’s allegations concerning the possible involvement of State officers in the abduction and the alleged lack of investigative steps to verify that theory.
45.  The applicant appealed against that decision to the Ingushetia Supreme Court stating, amongst other things, the following:
“... on 24 March 2012 criminal case no. 12600026 was opened in connection with my brother’s abduction ...
We [the relatives of Abubakar Tsechoyev] do not know the reasons for the abduction, but I am sure that this crime was perpetrated by servicemen of State agencies.
The investigators failed to take all the operational-search meaures such as ... steps to identify the vehicle [seen at the crime scene]. An expert examination of the tyre tracks was never ordered ...; the investigation’s first step should have been to check the vehicles used by the operational units [of law-enforcement agencies] which was never done.
In addition, in spite of my requests, the information from the CCTV cameras ... was not retrieved on time. On 23 March 2012 I asked for it to be done as every seven days the footage got erased. I personally asked the investigators, including investigator G., about it, but they obtained the footage only on 30 March [2012], when everything had been already erased ...”
On 11 June 2013 the Ingushetia Supreme Court upheld the decision of the District Court on appeal in a summary fashion.