Initially the tribunal was set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

[12] Human Rights Watch, which initially supported the establishment of the tribunal, have criticised it for issues of fairness and transparency, as well as reported harassment of lawyers and witnesses representing the accused.

[15] Jamaat-e-Islami supporters and their student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, called a general strike nationwide on 4 December 2012, which erupted in violence.

[19] In February 2013, Abdul Quader Molla, Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat, was the first person sentenced to death by the ICT who was not convicted in absentia.

[19] The events of the nine-month conflict of the Bangladesh Liberation War are widely viewed as genocide; the Pakistan Army and collaborators targeted masses of people, intellectuals and members of the political opposition for attacks.

[27] An estimated ten million refugees entered India, a situation which contributed to its government's decision to intervene militarily in the civil war.

[27] In 2009 Shafique Ahmed, the Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, announced that the trials would be organised under the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973.

[32][33][34] On 29 January 2009, Mahmud-us-Samad Chowdhury, a member of the parliament (MP) from the Awami League (AL), proposed taking action to establish a tribunal to prosecute war crimes during a session of the Jatiyo Sangshad.

[36] On 25 March 2009 the government voted to try the war criminals according to the ICT Act of 1973[37][38] but planned amendments to bring the law up to date and in keeping with international standards for similar trials.

As a part of the amendment procedure, the government sent the act to the Law Commission, where it was scrutinised by specialist lawyers, judges and professors of the universities.

"[41] On 25 March 2010, the government announced the formation of the following: a three-member judges' tribunal, a seven-member investigation agency, and a twelve-member prosecution team to hold the trials according to the ICT Act of 1973.

[44] The first nearly dozen men indicted include nine leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party in the nation, which was opposed to independence in 1971:[45] Ghulam Azam, in 1971 chief of the erstwhile East Pakistan unit of the party; incumbent chief Matiur Rahman Nizami; deputy Delwar Hossain Sayeedi; secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid; assistant secretaries general Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla; media doyen Mir Kashem Ali, who heads the pro-Jamaat Diganta Media Corporation; Miah Golam Parwar;[17] and Abul Kalam Azad, an Islamic cleric formerly associated with the party.

[45] Two leaders of the opposition Bangladesh National Party were also indicted: former government ministers Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Abdul Alim.

[45] Abul Kalam Azad, a nationally known Islamic cleric and former member of Jamaat, was charged with genocide, rape, abduction, confinement and torture.

Following the verdict, large-scale, non-violent protests started on 5 February 2013 in Dhaka, with demonstrators calling for the death penalty for Mollah and any others convicted of war crimes.

[56] The protest spread to other parts of the country, with sit-ins and demonstrations taking place in Chittagong, Sylhet, Barisal, Mymensingh, Khulna, Rajbari, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sunamganj, Noakhali and Narsingdi.

[62] His defence lawyer had earlier complained that a witness who was supposed to testify for him was abducted from the gates of the courthouse on 5 November 2012, reportedly by police, and has not been heard from since.

[82] On 2 November 2014, Jamaat-e-Islami politician Mir Quasem Ali was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

"[87] Brad Adams, director of the Asia branch of Human Rights Watch, said in November 2012: "The trials against the alleged war criminals are deeply problematic, riddled with questions about the independence and impartiality of the judges and fairness of the process.

[88] In its November 2012 report, Human Rights Watch found that "glaring violations of fair trial standards" became apparent during 2012 but noted that changes were made in June 2012 which improved the process.

The international community should take quick action to stop the injustice being committed against Jamaat leaders,"[90] In January 2013, Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted concern about Shukho Ranjan Bali, who had first appeared as a witness for the prosecution in the Delwar Hossain Sayeedi case.

[92] In December 2012, The Economist published contents of leaked communications between the chief justice of the tribunal, Mohammed Nizamul Huq, and Ahmed Ziauddin, a Bangladeshi attorney in Brussels who specialises in international law and is director of the Bangladesh Centre for Genocide Studies.

"[63] According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the e-mails and Skype calls showed that Ziauddin was playing an important part in the proceedings, although he had no legal standing.

[95] Human Rights Watch and defence lawyers acting for the suspects, Ghulam Azam and Delawar Hossain Sayeedi, requested retrials for the two because of the controversy during their trials.

[96] Shafique Ahmed, the Minister of Law and Justice, referring to Ziauddin, said that Huq "sought help on procedural matters from an expert.

[101] Shafique Ahmed alleged that Jamaat-e-Islami has paid US$25 million to lobbyists in the USA and the UK to influence public opinion against the trials.

[citation needed] The activists were demanding the release of Miah Golam Parwar, Delawar Hossain Sayedee and other party members being tried.

"[9] Kristine A. Huskey, writing for the NGO Crimes of War, said Rapp gave a ten-page letter to the prosecution which included recommendations and various concerns.

[118] Sam Zarifi of the International Commission of Jurists expressed concern that the flawed nature of trials conducted at the ICT could deepen the divisions in Bangladeshi society which resulted from the war of 1971, rather than heal them.

[121] Irene Khan, a Bangladeshi human rights activist, has described the government's response to abuses against women in the liberation war as the following: A conservative Muslim society has preferred to throw a veil of negligence and denial on the issue, allowed those who committed or colluded with gender violence to thrive, and left the women victims to struggle in anonymity and shame and without much state or community support.