16 Since 2014, NPM has been operating in Kazakhstan to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. According to the plan approved by the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan, preventive visits are conducted and the NPM members have drawn up a report on institutions with conclusions and recommendations to various state authorities on their competences. There can be an impression that there is a difference in the understanding of what torture is and, accordingly, the expectations of the NPM members, significantly differ from the measures taken by state bodies on recommendations or even their inaction on one or another petition of torture. We believe that, to begin with, we need an equal understanding of what torture is. According to Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan “The Republic of Kazakhstan claims CONSOLIDATED REPORT itself to be a democratic, secular, legal and social state, the highest values ​​of which are people, their rights and freedoms”, which also implies freedom from torture, which is further reflected in Part 2 of Article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan “No one should be subjected to torture, violence, other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment”. The UN Convention against Torture, ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan, in Part 2 of Article 2, claims: “No exceptional circumstances, whatever they may be, whether it is a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other state of emergency, can serve as an excuse for torture”. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Article 4, Part 3), international treaty ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan takes precedence over its laws. Thus, freedom from torture is an absolute right and applies to freedom and there is no such situation and there cannot be such a situation that would justify the use of torture.