Rwanda’s former army chief of staff, Kayumba Nyamwasa, middle, stands behind Paul Kagame during a military event in Kigali.

Spain has re-issued arrest warrants against a high-profile Rwandan opposition figure in exile who stands accused of committing war crimes while serving under Rwandan leader Paul Kagame, in a case that has defied the politics of international justice for nearly two decades.

In a landmark lawsuit of universal jurisdiction, Spain indicted 40 military officials of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in 2008 on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and terrorism dating from the 1990s—during and after the Rwandan genocide.

The case initially stemmed from the murders of nine Spanish nationals in Rwanda and the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, but later widened in scope to prosecute RPF officials for more serious war crimes against thousands of Rwandan and Congolese civilians.

Despite the indictments, none of the accused have ever been extradited to Spain to stand trial, as Rwandan officials, including President Kagame, have benefitted from widespread international support and legal cover since seizing power in 1994.

Nevertheless, Spanish lawyers and judges have continued to pursue legal proceedings against Rwandan military figures using tools of extraterritorial jurisdiction in their quest for justice. In July 2025, Spanish Judge José Luis Calama issued international and European arrest warrants against Kayumba Nyamwasa for his leading role in the killing of several Spanish aid workers and a priest in Rwanda, and in broader campaigns of violence that have engulfed Rwanda and Congo since the 1990s.

General Nyamwasa, who fled to South Africa after falling out with Kagame’s regime in 2010, had his refugee status revoked in 2017 because he stood accused of committing serious war crimes. Nyamwasa has faced multiple assassination attempts by alleged agents of the Rwandan government operating on South African soil. Once a close ally to Kagame and a founding member of the Tutsi-led RPF, Nyamwasa headed the movement’s military intelligence department and later served as the country’s defence chief when Rwandan forces committed horrific crimes in Congo.

Victor Hortal Fernandez, a Spanish lawyer representing the families of victims in the case, said Spain re-issued arrest warrants and requested an Interpol red notice for General Nyamwasa because the court considered him “missing.” Hortal Fernandez also said that Nyamwasa misled the court after appointing a defence lawyer, a judicial move that allowed him to gain access to........

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