47. The Government contended that the complaint should be declared inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. They submitted that the investigation into the disappearance of Ramzan Rasayev had not yet been completed. They further argued that it had been open to the applicant to lodge complaints with the courts about the allegedly unlawful detention of his son.
48. The applicants contested that objection. They stated that the criminal investigation had proved to be ineffective and that their complaints to that effect, including the application to the court, had been futile. They also alleged the existence of an administrative practice of non-investigation of crimes committed by State servicemen in Chechnya and referred to the other cases concerning such crimes that had been reviewed by the Court, and also to reports of various NGOs and international bodies. That, in their view, rendered any potentially effective remedies inadequate and illusory in this case.