The Federal Government of Rio de Janeiro filed a public civil action against the Union for demonstrations by the Brazilian Navy considered an attack on the memory of , a black sailor who led the Revolt of the Whip in 1910.
The prosecutors are asking the Court to order the Union to refrain from creating new ones and are seeking compensation of R$5 million for collective moral damages, resources that would be used in projects that value João Cândido’s memory.
The Brazilian Navy was contacted this Sunday (21), but did not comment on the public civil action until the publication of this report.
The Whip Revolt was an uprising that mobilized 2,300 sailors, who rebelled against the physical punishments and degrading conditions imposed on the vessels’ crew, the majority of whom were black and brown.
João Cândido, who became known as the “black admiral” for his leading role in the revolt, was expelled, arrested and died poor in 1969. He never became an admiral, despite being called that by the press and the population at the time.
The legal action filed by the MPF refers to a letter sent to the Chamber of Deputies in April 2024 by the commander of the Navy, . He criticized the bill that inscribes João Cândido in the Book of Heroes and Heroines of the Fatherland.
Olsen claimed that the military’s recognition would be a “reprehensible example of conduct” for Brazilians, calling them abject and classifying the episode as shameful and deplorable.
He also stated that honoring João Cândido “would be the same as transmitting to society, and in particular, to today’s military, that it is licit to resort to the weapons entrusted to them to claim supposed individual or class rights.”
In the assessment of the MPF’s Regional Citizen’s Rights Prosecutor’s Office, the demonstrations disrespect the Constitution, international treaties to combat racism and which granted amnesty post mortem to Candide and the other rebels.
The prosecutors also state that the freedom of expression of public agents is not absolute, especially when the statements violate the dignity of the human person and democratic values. And they highlight that the revolt played an important role in the fight against racial inequality.
The petition states that the sailor was the target of persecution, from his expulsion from the Navy to attempts to erase his legacy after his death, including censorship of artistic works that honored him.
The Navy, on the other hand, assesses that the revolt represented a break in hierarchy and discipline, with threats of bombing the city of , and seeks corporatist advantages such as increased salaries, less demanding work regime and exclusion of officers considered, by them, unworthy of serving in the force.
In the letter sent to the Chamber, the Navy highlighted that physical punishment on vessels is unacceptable and incompatible with the values of contemporary society and was recognized as an error by the institution.
