THIRD SECTION
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CASE OF SALIKHOVA AND MAGOMEDOVA v. RUSSIA
 
(Application no. 63689/13)
 
 
 
 
 
JUDGMENT
 
 
 
STRASBOURG
 
26 January 2016
 
 
FINAL
 
06/06/2016
 
This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Salikhova and Magomedova v. Russia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:
 Luis López Guerra, President,
 Helena Jäderblom,
 George Nicolaou,
 Helen Keller,
 Dmitry Dedov,
 Branko Lubarda,
 Pere Pastor Vilanova, judges,
and Stephen Phillips, Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 5 January 2016,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (no. 63689/13) against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by two Russian nationals, Ms Ruzmay Salikhova and Ms Rapiyat Magomedova (“the applicants”), on 26 September 2013. 2. The applicants were represented by Mr Dokka Itslayev, a lawyer practising in Grozny. The Russian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Court of Human Rights. 3. The applicants alleged that their relative had been abducted by State agents in Dagestan, Russia, and had subsequently disappeared and that the authorities had failed to effectively investigate the matter. 4. On 6 January 2014 the application was communicated to the Government. It was also decided to rule on its admissibility and merits at the same time (Article 29 § 1 of the Convention). THE FACTS
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE
5. The applicants were born in 1962 and 1994 respectively and live in Makhachkala, Republic of Dagestan, Russia. They are the mother and the wife of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev, who was born in 1990. A. Abduction of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev
Abduction of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev and subsequent developments
(a)  The applicants’ submission
6. At the material time Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev and the applicants, along with other relatives, lived together at 115A Magomed Dalgata Street, Makhachkala, Dagestan. According to the applicants for about eighteen months prior to the events in question Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev had been suspected of illegal activities and had been followed by Dagestani law enforcement agencies, in particular by the Centre against Extremism of the Dagestan Ministry of the Interior (“the CPE”) (Центр по Борьбе с Экстремизмом МВД по Республике Дагестан (ЦПЭ)). 7. At about 6 p.m. on 20 May 2013 Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev drove in his white GAZ Volga-3110 car along Engelsa Street to visit his relatives, who lived about a ten-minute drive from his house in Makhachkala. At about 6.45 p.m. his car was stopped and he was abducted by a group of eight armed men who were driving two civilian vehicles: a silver-coloured VAZ-21014, which had a registration number which partially read “A067”, and a black VAZ-21099. The men were dressed in civilian clothing and were masked. The applicants’ relative, Mr Ub.Ub., called Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev during the abduction and upon hearing him screaming immediately informed the applicants that there was a problem. Directly after that Mr Ub.Ub., together with the first applicant, went along Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s route and found his car in the street with two police vehicles and officers from the Sovetskiy district police station in Makhachkala (“the Sovetskiy ROVD”) (Советский районный отдел внутренних дел (РОВД)) next to it. The police told the first applicant and Mr Ub.Ub. that they had arrived a couple of minutes ago and that a few minutes prior to their arrival a man had been abducted. They told the applicant and Mr Ub.Ub. to wait at home for a telephone call from the police and took Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s car to the premises of the Sovetskiy ROVD. 8. Approximately twenty days after the abduction, that is to say between 9 and 12 June 2013, police officers from the CPE searched the applicants’ house. 9. About a month after the events, on or around 20 June 2013, the applicants obtained video footage of the abduction from a local resident (see paragraph 23 below). They recognised one of the abductors by his voice as the CPE officer named “Shakir” and informed the authorities of this. 10. On 1 July 2013 a burnt male corpse was found five kilometres from Gurbuki village in the Karabudakhkenstrkiy district in Dagestan. 11. On 23 December 2013 the body was identified by the authorities as that of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev (see paragraph 53 below). The applicants and their relatives disagreed with that conclusion (see paragraphs 54-55 below). 12. According to the applicants, they have had no news of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev since his abduction. (b)  The Government’s submission
13. The Government did not dispute the facts as presented by the applicants, but denied any involvement of State agents in the incident. B. Official investigation into the abduction
14. In reply to the Court’s first request for a copy of the contents of the investigation file, the Government provided ninety-eight copied pages of documents from it reflecting steps taken by the authorities between 14 June and 26 October 2013. 15. In reply to the Court’s further request for a copy of the contents of the investigation file, the Government submitted 372 copied pages of the relevant documents, some of which were illegible. The contents of the legible documents can be summarised as follows. 16. Immediately after the incident the applicants went to the Sovetskiy ROVD, informed the police of the abduction and gave statements to the police investigator. They also conducted their own search for eye witnesses to the incident and found several of them in nearby shops and blocks of flats. The applicants informed the investigators of their findings (see, for example, paragraph 23 below). 17. On 20 May and then on 24 May 2013 the applicants complained of the abduction to the Sovetskiy district investigations department (“the investigations department”). In their second complaint they stated that, in their opinion, the police were wilfully postponing steps in the investigation of the incident. 18. On 3 June 2013 the investigators examined the crime scene. No evidence was collected. 19. On 6 June 2013 the investigators examined the car from which Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev had been abducted; two fingerprints were collected from the chassis of the vehicle. On the same date a forensic examination of the fingerprints was ordered. 20. On 14 June 2013 the investigations department opened criminal case no. 302564 into the abduction. The applicants were informed thereof. 21. On 18 June 2013 the investigators granted Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s father, Mr A.A., victim status in the criminal case and questioned him. His statement was similar to the applicants’ account submitted to the Court. The witness stated, amongst other things, that he had not witnessed the abduction and had learnt of it from his relatives. According to the witness, his son had no unpaid debts or personal enemies and had the mobile telephone number 8-903-481-61-47. 22. On 18 June 2013 the investigators questioned Mr Ub.Ub. whose statement concerning the incident was similar to the applicants’ account before the Court. 23. According to the applicants, shortly after their initial complaint to the authorities they identified witnesses to the incident and informed the investigators accordingly. As a result, on 21 June 2013 the investigators questioned Mr Ma.Ma. who stated that at about 6.45 p.m. on 20 May 2013 he had been smoking on his balcony at 3 Engelsa Street when he had heard men arguing. He had looked out and seen a group of six or seven masked men with pistols in their hands. Four of those men had been trying to pull the driver out of a white GAZ Volga-3110 car but the latter had been resisting. Then the men had started beating him and had somehow managed to pull him from his seat into the back seat of the car. Three of them had got inside the vehicle. In about two or three minutes the masked men had carried the immobilised driver out of the car and put him in a silver‑coloured VAZ-2114. Then all of the masked men had driven off in that car and a black VAZ-21099 car. Immediately afterwards the witness had gone outside and asked a passerby to call the police. In about five minutes the police had arrived at the scene. According to the witness, he had recorded the abduction on his mobile telephone camera and then copied it to a CD. 24. On the same date, 21 June 2013, the investigators seized the abduction footage made by Mr Ma.Ma. On 25 June 2013 they examined the video, the contents of which were similar to the applicants’ account of the abduction submitted to the Court. 25. On 25 June 2013 the investigators questioned the second applicant’s mother, Ms G.G., whose statement concerning the abduction was similar to the applicants’ account before the Court. She had not witnessed the incident and had learnt of it from her relatives. 26. On the same date, 25 June 2013, the investigators questioned the first applicant, whose statement was similar to the applicants’ submission before the Court. In addition the investigators obtained samples of the first applicant’s saliva for DNA testing and for its database. 27. On 20 August 2013 the investigators ordered a comparison of the first applicant’s DNA samples with those from the DNA database. 28. On 30 August 2013 the investigators again questioned the first applicant who stated that in June and July 2013 she had received text messages on her telephone from two unknown numbers. The first message contained the following:
“Congratulations, your son became a shahid on the path of jihad in the Karabudakhkenstrkiy district ... May Allah accept his shahada and take him to the gardens of Firdous. Allahu Akbar!”
The second message contained the following:
“...Your son and son-in-law were set up by your neighbour Makhmud who worked for the 7th department [of the police]. If you don’t believe it, have your men follow him. I could not do nothing about it as I have got nobody who could help me eliminate him. This beast spares no one. I hope you will believe me as I have got no other way out. My brother was the only tower of strength in my life. Friend.”
29. On the same date, 30 August 2013, the investigators seized the first applicant’s mobile telephone to examine the above messages. It was established that the first message had been received on 15 June 2013 from a mobile telephone located that day in Popovicha Street in Makhachkala; the second message – received on 20 July 2013 – came from a different telephone number. 30. On 5 September 2013 the investigators requested the Sovetskiy District Court in Makhachkala to grant them permission to obtain from the relevant mobile phone operator the call logs of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s telephone number (8-903-481-61-47) between 20 April and 1 September 2013. 31. On 9 September 2013 the investigators received the court’s permission and examined the call logs of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s telephone calls. According to the logs, at about 6.35 p.m. on 20 May 2013 he had received a telephone call from Mr Ub.Ub and after that the handset had been switched off. On 16 August 2013 a five-second call had been received on Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s number; the caller had been located in the area of Dachi in Makhachkala. 32. On 9 September 2013 the investigators again questioned the first applicant who stated that on the morning of 5 September 2013 she had received a call on her mobile telephone from a man who had not introduced himself but had stated that he was an officer of the Federal Security Service (“the FSB”) (Федеральная Служба Безопасности (ФСБ)) and that he was holding Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev. The man, who had called from 8‑988-059-41-98, had told her that he would release her son in one day in exchange for 250,000 Russian roubles (RUB). The applicant had passed the telephone to her husband who had told the man they had had only RUB 150,000 and that they would pay RUB 50,000 at once and then RUB 100,000 after their son’s release. The man had told them that Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev was being held about a ten to twelve hour drive from Makhachkala and that he was in a bad state of health. Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on that date (5 September 2013) the first applicant’s husband and the man had called each other several times. The applicant’s husband had been ordered to deposit RUB 50,000 in the account of mobile telephone number 8-964-519-62-69, which he had done on the same day. The man had confirmed receipt of the money and told the applicant and her husband to wait for his call. But he had not called back and his telephone number had been disconnected since 5 September 2013. 33. On 25 September 2013 the forensic experts informed the investigators that the fingerprints collected from Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s car (see paragraph 19 above) were not fit for identification. The applicants were informed thereof on 21 December 2013. 34. On 30 September 2013 the investigators requested that the Sovetskiy District Court in Makhachkala grant them permission to obtain the call logs of telephone number 8-988-059-41-98 (used by the alleged FSB officer on 5 September 2013) between 1 August and 30 September 2013. Permission was received on 4 October 2013. 35. On 7 October 2013 the investigators searched Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s house. No evidence was collected. 36. On 7 October 2013 the investigators questioned the second applicant whose statement concerning the abduction was similar to that submitted by the applicants to the Court. She had not witnessed the incident but had learnt of it from her relatives. 37. On 9 October 2013 the investigators received the call logs of the telephone number 8-988-059-41-98. According to these logs, the caller who had contacted the first applicant and her husband on 5 September 2013 (see paragraph 32 above) had been located in Volgograd. 38. On 10 October 2013 the first applicant requested the investigators to order an expert analysis of the voice of one of the abductors from the video footage of the incident (see paragraph 23 above); according to her, Mr Ub.Ub. had identified that voice as belonging to a Dagestan CPE officer named Shakir whom he would be able to identify if necessary. The applicant requested that the investigators examine the video and compare the abductor’s voice to that of Shakir. 39. On 16 October 2013 the investigators granted the first applicant’s request and ordered that steps be taken to identify the CPE officer Shakir and to analyse the voice on the video. The applicants were informed thereof. 40. On 26 October 2013 the investigators questioned Mr T.G. who stated that he lived next to the scene of the abduction but had not witnessed it and learnt of it from his neighbours. 41. On 28 October 2013 the investigators questioned police officer A.A. who stated that on 20 May 2013 he had been on duty at the Sovetskiy ROVD and had been called to the abduction scene. According to the witness, the investigators had examined the crime scene and had towed away the white GAZ Volga-3110 car left behind after the abduction to their police station. After about a month the car had been picked up by an unnamed individual. 42. On 1 November 2013 the investigators questioned Shakir N., an officer with the Dagestan CPE, who stated that he did not have information pertaining to the abduction, but that he had participated in the search of the applicants’ house in June 2013 (see paragraph 8 above). The witness also confirmed that in June 2013, about two days after the search, he had spoken with Mr Ub.Ub. who had visited the CPE with his son Mr A.Ub., who had been suspected of involvement in illegal armed groups. Mr Ub.Ub. had requested his assistance in the criminal case against his son Mr A.Ub. but the witness had refused to help him. Due to the passage of time the witness could not recall where he had been on the evening of 20 May 2013 but stated that he had not met Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev and had not participated in a special operation against him. The witness’ mobile telephone number was 8-967-395-69-75 and he had been using that number since June 2012. 43. On 3 November 2013 the investigators again questioned the first applicant who stated that, in her opinion, her son had been abducted by special forces servicemen or law-enforcement officers as they had suspected Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev of aiding members of illegal armed groups. Twenty-four days after the abduction the CPE officers had searched her house (see paragraph 8 above). According to the applicant, Mr Ub.Ub. had met officer Shakir in the middle of June when he had gone to the CPE with his son. 44. On 5 November 2013 the investigators received the call logs of the telephone number used for the deposit of RUB 50,000 (see paragaph 32 above). According to the list, on 5 September 2013 the caller had been located in Volgograd, Russia. 45. On 19 November 2013 the investigators ordered an expert analysis of the voices in the abduction video (see paragraph 23 above). It can be seen from the documents submitted that on an unspecified date between 19 and 28 November 2013 the experts concluded that the voice on the footage was not fit for identification (see paragraph 47 below). 46. On 24 or 25 November 2013 the investigators requested the Sovetskiy District Court in Makhachkala to grant them permission to obtain the call logs for between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m. on 20 May 2013 from the telephone number belonging to officer Shakir N. (see paragraph 42 above). This was granted on 28 November 2013. 47. On 28 November 2013 the Dagestan Ministry of the Interior conducted an internal inquiry into the applicants’ allegations of the involvement of the CPE officers in the abduction and concluded, amongst other things, the following:
“... On 20 May 2013 A.A. complained of the abduction of his son Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev to the Investigations Department ...
... According to the witness statements of the first applicant, Mr R.M., Mr Ub.Ub. and Mr A.Ub., enclosed with the complaint, officers of the CPE were involved in the abduction ... In their statements Mr Ub.Ub. and Mr A.A. directly indicate the CPE officers Ra.M. and Shakir; the latter they had been able to identify from the video posted on Youtube under the title “Abduction of Mr S. Abakargadzhiyev”. According to the statement of the CPE operational search officer Shakir N. given to the inquiry, ... in June 2013 he had participated with his colleagues from the CPE in the search of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s home ... After the search, prior to the departure, he and his colleagues had asked Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s relatives to ensure that Mr A.Ub. would appear at the CPE. The latter, who had been related to Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev, had been listed in the CPE’s database as a supporter of terrorist groups, had been told to report to the CPE to help with enquiries ... several days later Mr A.Ub. had been arrested and charged with the same crimes for which he had been investigated. After the arrest, the father of Mr A.Ub., Mr Ub.Ub., had asked the witness and Captain Ra.M. to assist him in persuading the authorities to be lenient towards his son, but his requests had been refused by the officers ... On the date of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s abduction the witness had taken a detainee, Mr M.D., to the court ... he had had nothing to do with the abduction. In addition, the witness explained that Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev had been an ardent supporter of Wahabiism and on several occasions had aided members of Dagestani terrorist groups, in particular, Mr S.Gu., and had participated in the attack on Dagestan traffic police officers near Agachul in February 2013 ... When questioned, the head of the operational search divison of the Dagestan CPE, Captain Ra.M., confirmed the above statement and explained that neither he nor his subordinate officers had had anything to do with the abduction. Mr Ub.Ub. had told lies about them as he and the servicemen of his department had arrested his son Mr A.Ub. in connection with the investigation of criminal case no. 30284. According to the evidence submitted by the CPE, they had obtained information concerning planned attempts on the lives of law-enforcement officers committed by Mr S.G., Mr A.Kh., Mr G.A. and Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev on 6 February 2013. The CPE officers did not arrest or detain Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev and no operational measures were taken against him...
... It can be seen from the case file that according to the expert analysis of the video “Abduction of S. Abakargadzhiyev” it was imposssible to analyse and identify the voices therein ... Thus, the internal inquiry was not able to verify the first applicant’s complaints concerning the unlawful actions of the CPE officers owing to significant discrepancies between the statements of those questioned during the inquiry; those discrepancies could be resolved only within the framework of a criminal case ...”
48. On 4 December 2013 the investigators received the call logs of officer Shakir N.’s mobile telephone for 20 May 2013, according to which on that date his telephone had been located in Makhachkala. 49. On 12 December 2013 the investigators questioned forensic expert Mr M.U., who had fingerprinted the white GAZ Volga-3110 car (see paragraphs 19 and 33 above). According to the witness, nobody else had touched the vehicle until after the examination. 50. On 30 December 2013 the investigation was suspended. The applicants were informed thereof. 51. On 28 January 2014 the investigation was resumed and the applicants were informed accordingly. The decision stated, amongst other things, the following:
“... the investigation established that Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev’s corpse had been found five kilometres north-west of Gurbuki village ... In connection with this, on 1 July 2013 the Kaspiysk Investigations Department opened criminal case no. 329105 ...”
52. On 29 January 2014 the investigators examined the contents of criminal case file no. 329105. According to the contents, there was a 99.93% DNA match between the DNA of the burnt corpse and that of the first applicant taken from the DNA database, as shown by the results of a forensic examination of 23 December 2013. 53. On 3 February 2014, having established that the burnt body found on 1 July 2013 had been that of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev, the investigations in criminal cases nos. 302564 and 329105 were joined by the investigators under the number 302564. The decision stated that the body had been found in a VAZ-2107 vehicle in which a home-made explosive device had been detonated. 54. On an unspecified date between February and March 2014 the investigators asked the first applicant to identify the body found on 1 July 2013. According to the applicant, she was not shown the actual corpse, but a photograph of it. She was able to tell from the photograph that it was not the body of her son Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev: according to the police, the corpse had at least five gold teeth; Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev did not have any. 55. On 12 March 2014 the first applicant’s husband asked the investigators to question him and the first applicant again about the circumstances of the abduction, to order another expert forensic examination of the corpse and to further examine and identify the voice of Shakir N. recorded by Mr Ub.Ub. The outcome of this request is unknown. 56. It appears from the documents submitted that the proceedings are still pending. II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW
57. For a summary of the relevant domestic law see Turluyeva v. Russia, no. 63638/09, §§ 56-64, 20 June 2013. THE LAW
58. The Court will deal with the procedural matters in the case before considering the applicants’ complaints concerning the abduction of their relatives and the allegedly ineffective investigation. I. THE GOVERNMENT’S PRELIMINARY OBJECTION
A. The parties’ submissions
59. The Government submitted that the investigation into the disappearance of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev had not yet been completed. They further argued, in relation to the complaint under Article 13 of the Convention, that it had been open to the applicants to lodge court complaints concerning any alleged acts or omissions on the part of the investigating authorities. 60. The applicants contested the Government’s submission. They stated that the only effective remedy, the criminal investigation, had proved to be ineffective. B. The Court’s assessment
61. As regards the criminal-law remedies provided for in the Russian legal system, the Court observes that the applicants and their relatives complained to the law-enforcement authorities after the abduction of Mr Sakhrab Abakargadzhiyev and that an investigation has been under way since 14 June 2013. The applicants and the Government dispute the effectiveness of that investigation. 62. The Court considers that the Government’s objection raises issues concerning the effectiveness of the investigation which are closely linked to the merits of the applicants’ complaints. Thus, it decides to join this objection to the merits of the case and considers that the issue falls to be examined below.

Article of the Convention at issue: Article 2
Outcome: no_violation