Mexican authorities must intensify efforts to end impunity, protect journalists and human rights defenders, and address the country’s “painful” crisis of disappearances, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Tuesday.

Hundreds protested in Mexico City to demand justice for the victims of violence and femicide after the death of Debanhi Escobar, an 18-year-old law student whose body was found submerged in a water tank inside the grounds of a motel.

The Mexican bishops' conference expressed dismay with a spate of vandalism against churches in the country — including a parish church dating to the 17th century — during marches for International Women's Day, saying, "Mexico needs justice and peace ...