Andrea Palpant Dilley, a Whitworth College alum and filmmaker, made a documentary about the genocide in Sudan in 2004. Murders, rapes and the burning of villages were rampant in the African country, especially in Darfur, the bloodiest region in Sudan. In 2004, unfortunately, the world was distracted elsewhere.

The Iraq war was a year old. And the crisis in Sudan was too complex for people and countries to get involved – emotionally or physically. It wasn’t then, and isn’t now, just about Muslims versus Christians, though this is part of the tension. It isn’t just about the bad guys preying on the good guys, though there are plenty of bad guys and the good ones, the children, are suffering the most. And it’s not just a simple case of government corruption, though corruption abounds.

The conflict has its roots in tribal feuds dating from forever, in scarce resources coveted by all, and in a desire by some to ethnically cleanse a country that’s never been comfortable with multicultures or diverse religious beliefs.

Finally, however, the world is waking up about Darfur and the rest of Sudan. It’s about time. Estimates say almost 200,000 people have died there in the past three years, and 2 million more are homeless.

The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Tuesday which should add some muscle and might to an African Union Force hoping to oversee a fragile peace agreement. And you know the world is waking up when celebrities get involved.

Actor George Clooney sneaked into Sudan in April with his father and a video camera. He returned to plenty of press coverage for the complex issue. And an estimated 15,000 people from all over the country marched in the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C., on April 30.

Palpant Dilley, whose documentary “Sudan: The Path to Peace” has been shown throughout the United States and at the Amnesty International Film Festival, feels relieved that the world is finally paying attention to Sudan, but she wonders how many lives would have been saved had the world awakened sooner.

“A delayed response always has a huge ethical consequence,” she said.

The delay came about because Sudan doesn’t have oil fields coveted by others. It doesn’t have bully leaders threatening the safety of the world with nuclear capability. It simply has millions of people suffering and dying and losing their homes, and again, the ones suffering most are the children.

Until recently, world leaders seemed to suffer from global amnesia. They didn’t remember that history’s worst atrocities were sanctioned by ignorance and denial. It’s no surprise that Rwanda survivors are involved in raising awareness about Darfur. Or that Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has been speaking out for years now about the genocide in Sudan.

In remarks made at a Darfur Emergency Summit at City University of New York in 2004, Wiesel asked questions still relevant today: “How can a citizen of a free country not pay attention? How can anyone, anywhere not feel outraged? How can a person, whether religious or secular, not be moved by compassion? And above all, how can anyone who remembers remain silent?”