Quintana Roo Human Rights Commission Closes 930 Complaints With Only 13 Recommendations

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — The Quintana Roo State Human Rights Commission closed out 930 complaints it received while issuing only 13 recommendations, its chairwoman said, acknowledging that most cases were resolved through informal negotiations and conciliation agreements between victims and authorities.

Omega Istar Ponce Palomeque told state lawmakers that she inherited a backlog of 933 case files dating back as far as 2016 when she took office shortly before midnight on Dec. 11, 2023, and that all of them have now been concluded.

“Today I report that the 933 were concluded and that only 500 remain in process, corresponding to this administration — the lowest number of files this institution has handled since 2016,” she said during an appearance before the Congress of Quintana Roo.

Ponce said the 13 recommendations issued in 2025 were accepted by the authorities and that her office has received evidence of compliance. She added that eight recommendations from before 2023 and “another 26” remain in force. She did not specify which agencies were found to have violated human rights.

Commission admits 1,600 complaints received

In an interview after her testimony, Ponce acknowledged that 1,600 complaints were filed between 2024 and 2026, with 500 still under review. She said most were addressed through alternative dispute resolution and administrative negotiations, while many others were referred to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH).

“Of the 500, 25 correspond to 2024, 70 to 2025 and the rest to 2026. Historically, the authorities that concentrate the most complaints are the State Prosecutor’s Office, on access-to-justice issues, the municipal and state public security departments, the Education Department and the Health Department,” she said.

Those figures were not presented to legislators from the 18th Legislature during her formal accountability session.

Although complaints have topped 1,600 in recent years, formal recommendations reached only 24 victims, among them four girls and four boys. The findings named the State Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Security Department and the municipality of Othón P. Blanco.

Ponce conceded that the recommendations still must be fully and promptly carried out.

“A recommendation does not end when it is issued, but when the victim obtains reparation for the harm,” she said, pledging to resolve the 500 open files so that complainants do not have to wait years.

146 inmates moved from Cancún to Chetumal

Separately, authorities transferred 146 inmates early Wednesday from State Penitentiary No. 2 in Cancún to No. 1 in Chetumal to ease overcrowding that exceeds 241% of capacity.

The Quintana Roo Public Security Department said the operation went ahead “without incident” along Federal Highway 307, a 384-kilometer (239-mile) route. Inmates traveled by land.

According to the department, the Cancún prison holds 2,213 inmates — 1,896 men and 317 women — against a capacity of 917, an overcrowding rate of 241.33%. The Chetumal facility has capacity for 1,189 people and currently holds 1,829, an overcrowding rate of 65.01%.

As of April, the Prisons Observatory documented that 1,923 inmates at the Cancún facility were awaiting sentencing, meaning only 290 of the 2,213 people held there — 13.10% — had been convicted.

The CNDH’s latest National Diagnostic of Penitentiary Supervision, published for 2025, rated Quintana Roo’s four state prisons 4.8 out of 10. Beyond overcrowding, the Cancún facility was cited for deficiencies in the treatment of inmates held in isolation, health services, food and hygiene, and a lack of sports areas and workshops.