The Hopkins Researchers are no longer the statistical outlier. Opinion Research Bureau has recently done a study that estimates about 1.2 million civilian violent deaths in Iraq since 2003. Details here.

IMHO, it is foolish or deliberately obtuse to make a distinction between a statistical estimate and a fact. Very few scientific facts are not based on statistical estimates.

If a countable body or certified death certificate is required for a death to be factual, there were few factual deaths under Pol Pot, Mao, Pinochet, Milosovic, etc.