(Eric Reeves) – So high are current mortality rates in Darfur, so great is previous human
destruction, that the current (and static) UN figure of 10,000 deaths for
the entire duration of this massive catastrophe must be regarded as both
statistically irrelevant and morally slovenly (it was proffered by the UN in
March 2004, without explanation or context). We certainly have no means of
ascertaining with any precision what the number is; nor will we ever have a
precise figure. But too much extant data and evidence suggest that a
reasonable figure is already well in excess of 100,000 dead.
According to data authoritatively assembled by the US Agency for
International Development, the present Crude Mortality Rate (CMR) is 7 per
day per 10,000 for the affected population. Using as the basis for
calculations the most recent UN figure of up to 2 million people “in need of
emergency relief” (UN News Centre, July 13, 2004), the daily death toll is
now approximately 1,400 human beings—or approximately 10,000 per week
(“Projected Mortality Rates in Darfur, 2004-2005, at
http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/sudan/cmr_darfur.pdf).
The death rate in
