The Mexican authorities announced Wednesday that captured members of a criminal cell had confessed to the killing of five journalists in the state of Veracruz this year. According to the state attorney, the criminals, one of whom was detained last week carrying identification cards belonging to Irasema Becerra, a recently slain newspaper employee, admitted to a total of 36 crimes.

Press freedom activists expressed dissatisfaction with the announcement, saying that it was unacceptable for the authorities to announce the resolution of these cases based on confessions rather than conducting full investigations. A 2012 report from Human Rights Watch attributed the country’s failing justice system in part to the “acceptance by some judges of confessions obtained through torture and other ill treatment.”