I. The circumstances of the case
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.