Darfur Death Toll Estimated Much Higher Than Previously Reported

By: Vaughn Ververs
Topics: In The News

(AP)

The brief imprisonment of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek and his release last week made for a feel-good story about brave journalists taking ultimate risks to bring the world a story. But Newsweek's Tony Dokoupil has a stunning reminder of why those risks are so important to take. Dokoupil brings us the result of a new study estimating the human toll the violence in Darfur has caused (hat tip: Eat The Press):

Sociologist John Hagan completed his book "Justice in the Balkans," a critical look at the Hague Tribunal and war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, just as violence erupted in Sudan's western province of Darfur in 2003. Now more than three years later, the Northwestern University professor has turned to correcting historical errors in real time. His study, coauthored with University of Wisconsin professor Alberto Palloni and to be published tomorrow in the journal Science, provides the first rigorous estimate of the death toll in Darfur. The two scientists found that 200,000 to 400,000 people have died since violence began, rather than the tens of thousands widely reported in the media.

Dokoupil has an interview with Hagan worth reading and serves as a reminder that this story is important to tell, regardless of the risks.