The Rwandan genocide took place in 1994. It saw the mass slaughter of the Tutsis by the Hutus, resulting from long standing internal conflict between the two ethnic groups. J.E. Burnett states that the civil war broke out as a result of a coup by the Rwandan Patriotic Front in an attempt to defeat the Hutu led government. The Hutu retaliated and the ensuing civil war that took place meant that a staggering percentage of the country was killed during the genocide in the East African State. The number affected is estimated to be somewhere in the region of five hundred thousand to over one million. As is the case in all wars, both sides were complicit in the mass murdering of Rwandan citizens and as such, both the Hutus and the Tutsis must be held accountable.