Ibragimov and Others v. Russia

Legal Relevance

Keywords: Effective Remedy | Duty to Investigate | Reparations | Burden of Proof | Deprivation of Liberty | Evidence | Systemic Practice | Relatives as Victims | Right to Know the Truth | State/Non-State Agents

Themes: Characteristics of the Crime | Related Crimes

The Court was satisfied that the victim was apprehended by State servicemen during an unacknowledged security operation. Taking into account the absence of any news of the victim for several years, and reiterating that in conflict situations when a person is detained by unidentified servicemen without any acknowledgment this can be regarded as life-threatening, it also held that the victim must be presumed dead following his unacknowledged detention and that his death can be attributed to the State. The Court also found that the authorities failed to carry out an effective criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the victim's disappearance. The Court made a finding of inhuman and degrading treatment with respect to the victim's family, in light of the fact that they suffered distress and anguish as a result of his disappearance and their inability to find out what happened to him. It concluded that the victim was held in unacknowledged detention in violation of the right to liberty and security, drawing on the fact that his detention was not logged in any custody records and that there exists no official trace of his subsequent whereabouts or fate.