Hanoi's security forces on June 26 detained three local activists-speakers and blocked a meeting which aimed to mark the UN's International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Bloggers Nguyen Hong Hai, Pham Thi Doan Trang and Pham Le Vuong Cac were held when they were leaving a hotel at noon to head to the meeting scheduled in the city's center later, with a number of foreign diplomats and local activists being invited, said Mr. Cac in his facebook page. The police also demanded the owner of the cafeteria where the event's organizer have booked for the meeting not to serve for participants of the event, activists said. The three activists were brought to different places for questioning until late evening. Mr. Hai said he was beaten by police offficers when he refused to cooperate with them during interrogation. Mr. Cac, a graduated law bachelor and the main presenter of the event, said the police held his laptop and two cell phones and tried to get access to these devices despite strong protest from the owner. In order to object the police's holding of his laptop and cell phones without a warranty from authorities, Cac broke these devices in witness of police officers. Cac also remained silent, rejecting all questions of interrogators. After being freed, Mr. Cac apologized the foreign diplomats and local activists who were invited to partake in the event. On the same day, on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (1998-2015), 11 unsanctioned Vietnamese civil societies isssued a joint statement to share with the international community on the most serious and painful human rights issues in the conscience and humanity civilization and alert all Vietnamese about the evil link of police, public security police and thugs to beat citizens rampantly even in the daytime They also reminded Vietnam's government and police forces about the obligation of states not only to prevent torture but to provide all torture victims with effective and prompt redress, compensation and appropriate social, psychological, medical and other forms of rehabilitation. They called for choosing June 26 as a national holiday to end violence, torture in Vietnam. Vietnam adopted the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in late 2014. However, the situation has not been improved, with four local residents have been found dead and many other detainees severely beaten in police station. According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, police torture is systemic in Vietnam, at all levels and in most of provinces and cities, including the five largest cities in the country. Earlier this year, Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security reported 226 deaths of detainees in police stations between October 2011 and September 2014. The police said most of the deaths were caused by illness and suicides, however, many families of these victims believed that they died from police torture. Meanwhile, Thailand's military government on Friday forced the HRW to cancel the public launch of its report on the Vietnamese government's persecution of an ethnic minority, saying it could affect national security and bilateral relations, according to AP. The HRW planned to delivered the report on persecution of Montagnard Christians in Vietnam's Central Highlands, whose religious practices have been described by the government as "evil," at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. The move came ahead of the visit of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to Bangkok to deepen the two countries' strategic partnership formed two years ago. The cancellation of the event is "very disappointing" and is "another affirmation that human rights organizations can no longer report, not only about situation in Thailand, but situations in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia," Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher in Asia, was quoted as saying by AP.